Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, revealed on Tuesday that the Republican National Committee (RNC) is planning to have personnel ‘physically handle the ballots’ during the 2024 election. This announcement comes in the wake of ongoing Republican criticism of electronic voting systems, which they claim contributed to alleged voter fraud in the 2020 election. Donald Trump, who remains the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has repeatedly alleged that the election was stolen from him, despite a lack of evidence to support these claims. Trump is currently facing a criminal investigation related to his attempts to overturn the election results, which culminated in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.
During an interview, Lara Trump, who serves as co-chair of the RNC, discussed the committee’s efforts to prepare for the 2024 election. She emphasized the RNC’s plans to deploy individuals who will ‘physically handle the ballots,’ in addition to traditional poll watchers. Lara Trump pointed to the recent lifting of a moratorium on RNC training for poll workers, which had been in place for approximately 40 years. She characterized the upcoming election as ‘the most important of our lifetimes.’
The RNC’s push for hand-counted ballots aligns with the Republican Party’s broader criticism of electronic voting systems. One prominent advocate for paper ballots is My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, a staunch Trump supporter who has been actively involved in promoting the claims of election fraud. Lindell has proposed using paper ballots in U.S. elections and has invested in the development of wireless monitoring devices that he claims can detect whether voting machines are connected to the internet. The legitimacy of these devices, however, has been questioned.
Lara Trump’s comments underscore the ongoing debate surrounding the integrity of the electoral process and the potential for partisan interference in future elections. Newsweek reached out to the RNC for comment through its online email form on Tuesday.
