Republican governors are reaffirming their faith in the electoral process despite claims from President-elect Donald Trump that millions of unlawfully cast ballots cost him the popular vote, according to statements provided to THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
After Green Party candidate Jill Stein launched a crowdfunding campaign to recount votes in swing states, Trump declared that he would have won the popular vote if not for “millions of people who voted illegally”. In the days that followed, a number of Republican elected officials who had countered Trump’s previous allegations of “large-scale voter fraud” to TWS in late October reiterated their confidence in the fairness of their state’s election process.
Hours after Michigan’s elections board certified the accuracy of the original tally there, a spokesperson for Gov. Rick Snyder told TWS that there is “no indication of any problems with the votes as cast in Michigan.”
“Governor Snyder feels it would be best to move past the politics and focus on the important job of governing,” the spokesperson added.
Even as Wisconsin began a recount this week at Stein’s behest, a spokesman for Wisconsin governor Scott Walker told TWS that the governor trusts the state’s election process.
“Governor Walker has confidence in Wisconsin’s electoral process and believes it is both fair and protected,” the spokesman said.
When asked about the security of Florida’s process, a spokesman for Gov. Rick Scott reiterated the governor’s commitment to fair elections.
“Governor Scott’s top priority during elections is 100 percent participation and zero percent fraud,” the spokesman said. “Florida had a smooth election with record turnout.”
The Trump-Pence ticket won Michigan, Wisconsin, and Florida by slim margins, helping him to a comfortable victory in the Electoral College despite trailing in the national vote total by more than 2 million ballots.
A spokesman for Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker pointed to a recent radio interview in which the first-term Republican discussed mounting recount efforts in states across the United States, though not in his own. In the interview, Baker expressed trust in a state-by-state process that is “managed at the local level” by “people [that] have been doing it a long time.”
“Everyone [in Massachusetts] felt the results across the board were accurate,” he said.
Governor Butch Otter of Idaho still “has the utmost confidence in the integrity of the Idaho elections process,” according to his spokesman. A spokesman for Wyoming governor Matt Mead also said that the governor “stands by his original comments,” and that he is “not concerned about the integrity of Wyoming’s election process.”
Alabama governor Robert J. Bentley believes “the election in Alabama was fair, and he has confidence in the process within the state,” his spokesperson said.
Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas likewise does not doubt the validity of his state’s results. “We have a high level of confidence in the election results and the integrity of the ballot box in Arkansas for this election cycle,” the governor said.
When asked about the integrity of Alaska’s elections, a spokesperson for Gov. Bill Walker touted the state’s ballot security. A recent study “found that Alaska’s election system is among the most secure in the country,” the spokesperson said.
