If you donated money to the Republican National Committee, are you at all curious about how it’s being spent?

According to a report in the New York Times, both parties typically spend donations and energy on “turning out voters — funding extensive organizing operations that knock on doors, run phone banks and track voters.” But this election cycle, according to the article, chances are your GOP donation is being spent on law suits and other so-called “election integrity efforts.” No matter that there is no legitimate study or source proving that our elections are anything but secure and legitimate, since actual voter fraud is almost statistically nonexistent[i]. Which makes sense, when you think about it. I mean, I imagine I might break the law by say, robbing a bank if I had to put food on my table to feed my family and believed I had no other option. But go to prison—commit a felony—to help my candidate win an election? Even this lifelong Democrat wouldn’t risk a felony over an election. Most Americans agree.

According to the NYT article, the R.N.C. is using donations to lead a broad network of conservative legal groups, including several Trump lawyers who have been criminally charged with felonies from the shenanigans they allegedly committed during the last election. (Some of those lawyers are still awaiting trial and possible disbarment for their past actions). This time around, some of those same attorneys are part of a GOP strategy which includes filing lawsuits seeking to restrict mail voting in key battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan and North Carolina.

The R.N.C. is also spending time and money to kick voters off the voting rolls in key states. In fact, as the NYT reports, “Republicans have unleashed a flurry of lawsuits challenging voting rules and practices ahead of the November elections, setting the stage for what could be a far larger and more contentious legal battle over the White House after Election Day.” The article goes on to say that the onslaught of litigation includes nearly 90 lawsuits, already more than three times the number of lawsuits filed before Election Day in 2020, according to Democracy Docket, a Democratically aligned group that tracks election cases.

But hey, wait a minute: Since 2020, Republicans in state legislatures they control throughout the country passed laws to make elections more “secure.” Is the R.N.C. worried that these new laws aren’t any good? Worried they won’t stick?

In addition, according to the article, “Voting rights experts say the legal campaign appears to be an effort to prepare to contest the results of the presidential election after Election Day should former President Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee, lose and refuse to accept his defeat as he did four years ago.” And lest you think this unprecedented legal activity is about ensuring the integrity of the election throughout our land, think again: These lawsuits are concentrated in swing states — and key counties — likely to determine the race. Several of these lawsuits base their claims on debunked theories about voter fraud and so-called stolen elections that Trump has promoted since 2020. Even if these legal challenges don’t succeed before November, they could be used to mount challenges after Election Day.

To be clear, your donation to the GOP could be used to ensure that more people vote in our free and fair elections. Your money could be spent getting more Republicans to vote by mail or increase day-of turnout to the polls. Your donation could be used to buy ads or create mailers to be delivered by volunteers or paid staff to undecided voters. Instead, your hard-earned cash is most likely being used to file lawsuits before election day in order to contest elections that haven’t even been held yet. And there’s more. According to FEC records, since July, almost $83 million in donations has been spent on 80+ law firms and individual attorneys defending Trump, his current and former aides, in lawsuits going back to January of 2022[ii].

The GOP could be using your donation to win an election, rather than spending your money on defense attorneys or shaky legal maneuvers (that failed the last time) in preparation for another loss.  

i https://electioninnovation.org/update/how-common-is-voter-fraud/

ii https://www.axios.com/2024/07/29/trump-falling-legal-costs-fundraising

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash.com