![Trump campaign and RNC pledge to unleash thousands to monitor vote counting in battleground states](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/ap24049031753674-20240410174354850.jpg?c=16x9&q=w_800,c_fill)
Trump campaign and RNC pledge to unleash thousands to monitor vote counting in battleground states
CNN
The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee are pledging to deploy 100,000 volunteers and lawyers to monitor vote counting across battleground states this year – part of what officials describe as a stepped-up focus on “election integrity” by the national party.
The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee are pledging to deploy 100,000 volunteers and lawyers to monitor vote counting across battleground states this year – part of what officials describe as a stepped-up focus on “election integrity” by the national party. Officials describe the program, detailed in a news release Friday and first reported by Politico, as the “most extensive and monumental election integrity program in the nation’s history,” and it underscores how much former President Donald Trump’s relentless focus on baseless election fraud claims from 2020 is shaping the party’s agenda. As the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Trump now controls the RNC and recently installed a new chairman, Michael Whatley, and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump as party co-chair. “Having the right people to count the ballots is just as important as turning out voters on Election Day,” Trump said in a statement. “Republicans are now working together to protect the vote and ensure a big win on November 5th!” The RNC and the Trump campaign said they plan to recruit and train poll watchers, poll workers and attorneys to monitor not only voting sites but ballot-tabulation centers, including those where mail ballots are processed to guard against what they call “Democrat attempts to circumvent rules.” The party said it plans to establish election integrity hotlines in each battleground state, allowing poll watchers and voters to report issues to the GOP’s legal team.
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