More Mail-In Ballots Were Rejected Than Margin Of Victory In Nevada Senate Race
With 1.2 million midterm ballots still missing, Nevada is a warning sign to other states considering the switch to all-mail elections.With 1.2 million midterm ballots still missing, Nevada is a warning sign to other states considering the switch to all-mail elections.Ranked-Choice Voting Keeps Rigging Elections
Is it right for a candidate who receives a plurality of votes on the first go-through to lose to someone who finishes last?Republican Kevin Kiley knocks out Democrat for US House seat in northeastern California, strengthening GOP House majority
Representative--elect Kevin Kiley has captured a highly coveted U.S. House seat in northeastern California, putting Democrats on the back foot and shoring up Republican strength in Washington, D.C.
The election
After two weeks of vote-counting, the Associated Press called the race for Kiley on Tuesday. Kiley received roughly 53% of the votes, leading his Democrat opponent, Kermit Jones, by over five points.
This is the second time this year that Kiley has beaten Jones, a fellow in former President Barack Obama's White House. When facing off against Kiley on June 7 in the nonpartisan primary race for the seat in U.S. House California District 3, Jones came up short.
The newly redrawn 3rd Congressional District seat had been occupied by a Democrat since 2012, but the people evidently wanted a change.
Kiley told Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" that "the House of Representatives is the part of our government that is most responsive to public opinion. That's the way the framers designed it. That's the way our Constitution was designed. So by electing a new majority in the House, the American people have said, 'We need change."
Kiley added that he was excited to get to work "to deliver that change."
Kevin Kiley: Voters sent a signal that they are looking for change youtu.be
Kiley campaigned on:
- attacking Congress' out-of-control spending;
- reducing the tax burden on middle-income families and small business;
- cutting red tape and reducing the regulatory burden;
- opposing abortion except in cases of incest, rape, and when the mother's life is at risk;
- toughening laws against violent and repeat offenders;
- ending illegal immigration and opposing sanctuary city laws; and
- recognizing that communist China is not a friend, but rather an American adversary to be taken seriously.
According to the Sacramento Bee, Kiley has also criticized the election counting system, which not only impacted his race but still affects other midterm races nationwide, weeks after Election Day.
The candidate
Kiley began his career as a high school teacher in inner-city Los Angeles. He went onto become an attorney. In 2016 he was elected to the California State Assembly.
The New York Times noted that Kiley's fierce criticism of Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom inspired Trump's confidence, along with that of a host of others.
Kiley told CalMatters last year, when supporting Newsom's recall, that "Newsom came into office and his top priority was simply to reward his top campaign donor, the California Teachers Association."
"We've seen that the education establishment in California is unwilling to serve students, and so I think we need a paradigmatic shift," said Kiley, who was formerly a teacher and adjunct professor.
According to CalMatters, Kiley introduced a resolution to end Newsom's emergency power and sued the governor over the constitutionality of a vote-by-mail executive order.
\u201cToday @J_GallagherAD3 and I took Gavin Newsom to court for overstepping his powers and won a Temporary Restraining Order. The Judge ordered the Governor\u2019s latest Exexutive Order suspended as a violation of the Constitution. To save costs, we represented ourselves.\u201d— Kevin Kiley (@Kevin Kiley) 1591982375
Trump said in May, "No one has fought Gavin Newsom harder than Kevin. ... He doesn't wait for the fight, like the do-nothing RINOs who have watched California get absolutely destroyed by the radical maniacs in Sacramento."
When announcing that he would run for office again in 2024, Trump reiterated that Kiley is "fantastic."
The significance
With Representative-elect Kiley's victory, the GOP now has 220 seats in the House. While the midterm elections didn't bring with them the red wave some voters had anticipated, the Republican majority may nevertheless bring with it a significant undertow in the form of oversight and investigations.
Kiley told Newsmax that as soon as the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3, "We are going to get to work right away to reverse these damaging Biden policies and to hold his administration accountable."
\u201cAfter a two-year train wreck, we can now move our country in a new direction.\u201d— Kevin Kiley (@Kevin Kiley) 1668980948
When asked about his priorities in the House, Kiley said, "We need to get our economy back on track, we need to secure the border and reverse these disastrous open-border policies of the Biden administration, we need to get crime under control, and we need to stop the assault on parental rights."
\u201cCongress will investigate the Administration's "misuse of federal criminal and counterterrorism resources to target concerned parents at school board meetings."\u201d— Kevin Kiley (@Kevin Kiley) 1669062842
Noting that the Republicans now have subpoena power, Kiley said, "We have the ability to bring Cabinet officials before the House of Representatives, before committees, make them answer questions under oath. We have the ability to do investigations ... so we can stop a lot of harmful policies from being enacted."
Arizona attorney general's office wants answers about 'myriad problems' faced by Maricopa County voters before results are certified
Before the results are certified, the Arizona attorney general's office wants answers about the bungled administration of the 2022 general election in Maricopa County. On Saturday, the AGO wrote to the Maricopa County attorney's affice, raising problems voters faced in ballot tabulators and ballot-on-demand printers, along with potential election law violations.
The AGO's demand for transparency came a day after Arizona's Cochise County board delayed certifying the election results and amid Kari Lake's continued insistence that she might still win.
What are the details?
In a Nov. 19 letter addressed to the Maricopa County attorney's office, Arizona Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright noted that the AGO's Election Integrity Unit has received "hundreds of complaints ... pertaining to issues related to the administration of the 2022 General Election in Maricopa County."
"These complaints go beyond pure speculation, but include first-hand witness accounts that raise concerns regarding Maricopa's lawful compliance with Arizona election law," wrote Wright.
On the basis of these complaints and the problematic administration of the election, Wright underscored how Arizonans "deserve a full report and accounting of the myriad problems" that occurred in Maricopa County on Election Day.
In addition to voters' complaints, Wright indicated there was additional cause for concern, given that "statements made by both Chairman Gates and Recorder Richer, along with information Maricopa County released through official modes of communication appear to confirm potential statutory violations of [Arizona election law]."
Having invoked Arizona Revised Statutes Section 16-1021, which allows the attorney general to "enforce the provisions of this title through civil and criminal actions" in any election for state office, the AGO demanded answers about:
- Election Day ballot-on-demand printer configuration settings;
- Election Day "check-out" procedures; and the
- apparent contravention of statutory guidelines and failure to segregate, count, tabulate, tally, and transport ballots that voters were otherwise unable to have tabulated using on-site tabulators.
Wright requested that a response be given on or before Nov. 28.
\u201cBREAKING: The Elections Integrity Unit of the Arizona Attorney General\u2019s Office has officially demanded a response from Maricopa County "pertaining to issues related to the administration of the 2022 General Election in Maricopa County."\u201d— Charlie Kirk (@Charlie Kirk) 1668907097
Printer problems
Wright stated that at least 60 voting locations had problems with their ballot-on-demand printers, "which appeared to have resulted in ballots that were unable to be read by on-site ballot tabulators."
According to Votebeat Arizona, vote-counting machines had trouble tabulating ballots on Election Day "because the timing marks on the ballot — the black lines on the sides that tell the machine where the contests are located so the machine can tally the votes — were not printing correctly. As a result, the machines were rejecting the ballots."
Nearly 27% of the voting centers (60 of the 223) were affected, generating longer wait times and confusion.
Nearly 17,000 Maricopa County voters (7% of all in-person voters) were reportedly "unable to watch machines tabulate their ballots on-site" because of printing malfunctions.
Sworn complaints submitted by election workers employed by Maricopa County indicated the printers had been tested on Nov. 7 "without any apparent problems," Wright noted.
Notwithstanding successful tests the night before, the printers started to malfunction within the first 30 minutes of voting on Election Day.
County Supervisor Chairman Bill Gates said at the time, "There is no question this is frustrating. ... We don’t believe anyone has been disenfranchised."
Gates claimed over the weekend that the printer problems did not disproportionately affect "Republican-leaning areas."
\u201cWe continue to answer your election-related questions this weekend. Here, Chairman @billgatesaz speaks about whether Election Day printer problems impacted certain areas more than others.\u201d— Maricopa County (@Maricopa County) 1668958420
The AGO's election integrity unit expects a report detailing:
- the voting centers that experienced these problems;
- the specific problems at each location; any other printer issues that may have contributed to the problem;
- a "comprehensive log of all changes to the [ballot-on-demand] printer configuration settings (to include the identity of individuals making changes)";
- the county's standards for the printer configuration settings "as specified in internal technical specifications and/or manufacturer technical specifications"; and
- other concerns.
Although the AGO made no claims of fraud or guilt regarding the printer errors, the questions asked appear open to the possibility of malfeasance and meddling.
'Check-out' problems
Wright referenced sworn complaints received by the election integrity unit, which indicated that voters had trouble checking out of voting locations to cast their votes at functional centers.
"Not only have have poll workers reported that they were not trained and/or not provided with information on how to execute 'check out' procedures, but many voters have reported the second voting location required the voter to cast a provisional ballot as the [virtual pollbook] maintained the voter had cast a ballot in the original voting location," Wright wrote in her letter.
This is troubling, suggested Wright, given "Arizona law specifically prohibits provisional ballots to be counted when a voter has signed multiple pollbooks."
The AGO requested a report detailing whether poll workers were properly trained on how to "check out" voters so that they could "lawfully vote in another location" and all those voters who were provided a provisional ballot "due to having already signed an e-pollbook at another Election Day voting location.
'Door 3'
Wright's letter also presses the Maricopa County attorney's office to report on the fate of ballots deposited at "Door 3."
Since tabulators were malfunctioning at multiple locations, affected voters were told to deposit their ballots into a slot on a secure box at each location. According to Votebeat Arizona, the boxes were labeled with a "3" sticker, hence the name "Door 3."
From there, Wright suggested that "non-tabulated ballots were commingled with tabulated ballots at the voting location" prior to being taken to the central elections center.
One sworn complaint suggested that thousands of non-tabulated ballots received at "Door 3" had been put in black duffle bags "intended to be used for tabulated ballots."
Liddy, Lake respond
Thomas Liddy, the civil division chief at the Maricopa County attorney's office addressed in Wright's letter, told Fox News Digital that he will convene with his clients "and begin the process of gathering the materials necessary to respond. As you are undoubtedly aware, Ms. Wright is still working on the AG’s Final Report of the 2020 election. I am looking forward to receiving that as well."
After the AGO's letter went out, Kari Lake told the Daily Mail that the "way they run elections in Maricopa County is worse than in banana republics around this world."
The Associated Press called the race for Hobbs on Nov. 14. Lake trailed Democratic candidate Katie Hobbs by fewer than 18,000 votes and has yet to concede defeat.
"I'll tell you what, I believe at the end of the day that this will be turned around, and I don't know what the solution will be, but I still believe I will become governor, and we are going to restore honesty to our elections," said Lake.
Arizona midterm results delayed until 'early next week,' says Maricopa County's top election official
The highly-anticipated midterm election results in Arizona will be delayed until "early next week," according to Maricopa County's top election official.
As of Wednesday night, there were approximately 619,000 ballots left to be counted in Arizona, with as many as 410,000 uncounted ballots in Maricopa County.
"County officials said they received 86,000 early ballots Friday through Sunday and an additional 50,000 on Monday," KPNX reported. "A record-setting 290,000 early ballots were dropped off on Election Day, far exceeding the 170,000 early ballots received on Election Day in 2020."
Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer said, "This number is immense, and it's a conversation that probably Arizona needs to have in terms of public policy because this is a number that keeps on growing."
"In many ways, it's wonderful," he added. "Arizonans appreciate the ease of the voting process and that you can just take your early ballot and drop it off on Election Day, but it does inhibit us from having a higher percentage of returns available within the first 24-48 hours."
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates warned Americans that the election totals are still several days from being released.
"I think that we’ll see the lion’s share wrap up by early next week," Gates told CNN.
Gates would not give a specific day that all the votes would be counted.
“If you drop off an early ballot, it means it has to come in on Wednesday and start the process of being signature verified,” Gates told CNN. “We have experts here who go through, compare the signature on the outside of the ballot envelope with the signature that we have in our voter registration file, so that takes a while, cause we gotta get that right.”
Previously, Arizona election authorities hinted that the votes might be counted by Friday.
\u201cThe Chairman of Maricopa County's Board of Supervisors just said that there are around 400,000 ballots left to be counted and that they won't be done until "early next week."\u201d— Greg Price (@Greg Price) 1668108022
Maricopa County’s election department said on Wednesday, "The hand count audit has begun. Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian party chairs drew the races and ballots that hand count audit boards will review Saturday."
Maricopa County, the largest county in the state, is where there were rampant issues with vote tabulating equipment on Election Day. Gates noted that about 20% of voting locations had issues processing ballots on Tuesday morning. The problems stemmed from a "printer issue," and the malfunctioning units were fixed by the afternoon.
"Maricopa County has identified the solution for the tabulation issues at about 60 vote centers. County technicians have changed the printer settings, which seems to have resolved the issue," read a statement from Maricopa County officials. "It appears some of the printers were not producing dark enough timing marks on the ballots."
Gates said that approximately 7% of ballots that were cast on Election Day were put in drop boxes after the tabulators malfunctioned.
Gates and Vice Chairman Clint Hickman said on Wednesday, "We are committed to finding out what factors changed that led to issues at 70 Vote Centers on Tuesday. We are grateful to county techs who found a fix to the problem by adjusting printer settings."
The Arizona results could impact which political party controls the U.S. Senate.
At the time of publication, incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly was leading over Republican Blake Masters by a margin of 51.5% to 46.3%, with 70% of the vote counted.
In the Arizona gubernatorial race, Democrat Katie Hobbs had a slight edge over Republican Kari Lake by a margin of 50.4% to 49.6%, with 70% of the vote counted.
'Very creepy': DNC adviser slammed as 'sexist' for suggesting Lauren Boebert do porn if she loses her House seat, MSNBC host Joy Reid bursts into laughter
An MSNBC contributor is being blasted as a "sexist" for suggesting that Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert do porn if she loses her seat in the House.
During Wednesday night's episode of "The ReidOut," MSNBC host Joy Reid discussed the 2022 midterm elections with former Democratic Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill and DNC adviser Kurt Bardella.
The trio were thrilled that Boebert was locked in a tight race with Democrat Adam Frisch. At the time of publication, Frisch was leading Boebert by just 64 votes, with 98% of the votes counted, in the race for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.
Reid asked her guests, "What's the meaning if Lauren Boebert – the second most popular QAnon Congressperson in MAGA – what if she goes, what if she loses?"
Reid added, "And what job will she have? I don't even think Shooters exists any more."
Boebert previously owned the gun-themed restaurant Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colorado. The restaurant closed in July after a new landlord did not renew the lease for Shooters Grill.
Bardella proclaimed that Boebert would transition from congresswoman to a performer on OnlyFans – an adult website that features pornographic content.
"I guess it might be a gain for OnlyFans," Bardella stated. "I don’t know what she would do in this scenario."
The remark delighted Reid and sent her into a laughing, wheezing outburst.
McCaskill's jaw dropped in reaction to Bardella's comment.
Bardella said of Boebert's potential loss, "I think that symbolically to take out one of the poster childs of the MAGA movement – someone who has been an absolute disgrace to the office that she holds – would be a great feather in the cap. And would, I think, cement the fact that this has been an absolute unmitigated disaster for the MAGA wing of the Republican Party."
\u201cMSNBC's @JoyAnnReid: "What job will Lauren Boebert have if she loses?"\n\n@kurtbardella: "I guess it might be a gain for OnlyFans"\u201d— Greg Price (@Greg Price) 1668044545
Bardella – a former publicist for Breitbart and the Daily Caller as well as a former senior adviser to the Lincoln Project – was slammed as a "sexist" in reactions on Twitter. Many online commentators decried hypocrisy and believed that there would be a far greater backlash if Bardella made the same comment against a Democrat politician.
Conservative commentator CJ Pearson: "So misogyny is ok, as long as it’s exclusively directed towards conservative women?"
Author Jim Hanson: "The shameless misogyny of the tolerant Left."
Reporter Alex Salvi: "Very creepy and misogynistic."
Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald: "Demeaning, creepy, sexualized things you get to say about female politicians if you're doing so for the right cause and on the right liberal channel. Pick your most beloved liberal politician and imagine the uproar if this were said about them on Fox while the host giggled."
Writer Carmine Sabia: "If @KurtBardella was a Republican, @JoyAnnReid was on Fox News and Lauren Boebert was a Democrat people would be fired, apologies would be made and it would be a national news story. This is abhorrent."
Columnist David Harsanyi: "If this was a Republican, The Atlantic would have to dedicate an entire issue to the dark misogynistic heart of the party."
Former Trump adviser Jenna Ellis: "Gross. @kurtbardella is a pervert. If anyone had suggested this about Tiffany Cross when she was fired, the Left would have whined racism, sexism, misogyny. So maybe everyone just stop suggesting women do porn altogether, regardless of race or party?"
Entrepreneur Alok Bhatt: "Liberal privilege again at display - thanks to which this democrat strategist @kurtbardella, will get away with this utterly sexist remark!"
Journalist Brad Polumbo: "I am a big critic of Boebert, but this is sexist and demeaning. She ran a successful business before Congress."
Investigative reporter Chuck Ross: "I hope MSNBC keeps @kurtbardella on air because he’s a clown and he amuses me, but hard to see how they justify keeping him on after this when they just got rid of a black female show host for lack of 'standards.'"
Conservative commentator Kurt Schlichter: "Remember that much of the hatred of conservativism is cheesy class snobbery by mediocre people who have nothing but their ridiculous 'elite' status."
Reporter Tatjana Pasalic: "I am not a fan of Boebert at all but this is just disgusting trash. Why is misogyny like this OK on national TV? Shame on these two women giggling at the OnlyFans comment. Such feminism. Much wow. Gross."
Former Democratic Congressional candidate Alexandra M. Hunt: "I can’t stand Boebert, but this sexism isn’t cute. There’s no shame to having an OnlyFans. @kurtbardella do better."
Republicans, Don’t Fall For The Left’s Post-Midterms Trump Trap
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