For more than three decades, the Republican National Committee had to operate under a federal consent decree monitoring its activities, such as poll-watching and voter ID requirements. With the Reagan-era court order now lifted, the RNC plans to make “election integrity” a key 2022 campaign issue.
The decree goes back to a 1982 Democratic National Committee lawsuit accusing the RNC of suppressing the black vote through targeted mailers warning about the consequences for violating election laws and by posting armed, off-duty police officers at the polls in communities of color.
However, in 2018, New Jersey-based U.S. District Court Judge John Michael Vazquez ruled in an order that the decades-old decree be ended on Dec. 1 of that year and not be extended.
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So, for over 30 years, the Republican Party was limited in its legal ability to challenge voters’ qualifications. This restricted Republicans from creating ballot security programs or engaging in legal activities related to voter integrity issues. GOP activists said that gave Democrats a massive advantage in terms of fundraising and legal resources.
Now, the RNC is launching its election integrity committee. It’s an integral part of the Republican narrative that President Biden stold the 2020 election, though virtually every post-Election Day lawsuit went against the campaign of then-President Donald Trump. Republicans are promising their voters that, going forward, “election integrity” will be a priority for the party from state legislatures to the courtroom, following allegations that voter fraud occurred during the last presidential contest.
While these claims were dismissed by election officials and the courts over the last few months, GOP voters have become disenchanted by the election process.
Republican Party officials on the national and state levels began strategizing immediately, following the election loss, over the best way to become a proactive force when it came to ballot security measures. That starts with the creation of the RNC’s in-house election integrity committee, headed up by Florida state Sen. Joe Gruters.
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“This is one of Ronna McDaniel’s No. 1 priorities, and it’s obviously a very big task,” Gruters told the Washington Examiner, mentioning the RNC chairwoman and Trump ally. “She is committed to bringing in whatever resources we need to make sure that we get it right for 2022.”
According to Gruters, the RNC already rolled out four different committees related to the election integrity effort. The main committee and the subcommittees, which have a permanent presence at the RNC’s Washington headquarters, meet once a week over Zoom or conference calls.
Gruters, who is also Florida’s Republican Party chairman, said he believes his team can help bring different state Republican committees up to speed on ballot security issues for the 2022 election cycle. Gruters has experience on the issue going back 20 years.
“Florida was a laughing stock back in 2000 with Bush v. Gore — the hanging chads and various cycles after that. We had some close races, which allowed the legislative process to work and where they continue to tighten the screws and try to build a better system,” Gruters said. “Now, we’re going to continue to work on some issues. I think we’ll make it even better.”
A litigation subcommittee, or a new committee altogether, is expected to do an autopsy of sorts and review the legal resources on the ground issue.
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“It’s not rocket science when it comes to making it as easy as possible to vote and as hard as possible to cheat,” Gruters said. He noted the RNC will be supporting voter integrity legislation in statehouses controlled by the GOP and coordinate with groups such as the Republican National Lawyers Association and the Republican State Leadership Committee.
