Citizens’ Oversight Projects (COPs) is a left-of-center election-administration activist group that co-signed a letter written by left-of-center Scrutineers and the National Voting Rights Task Force in support of the “For the People Act,” a Biden administration legislative priority that would federalize election administration. ¹

COPs runs the cloud-based election auditing service, AuditEngine.org, which seeks to upload archives of ballot images to serve as a “risk limiting audit.” ^{2 3 4} COPs also runs the Easy Voting Project, a national effort that supports same-day voter registration to increase ballot access ⁵ and opposes “difficult voter registration,” voter registration deadlines weeks before an election, removal of voters from the rolls who are registered in multiple jurisdictions, and “onerous” voter ID requirements. ⁶

Raymond Lutz is the executive director of COPs. ⁷ He is a self-described “progressive activist” ⁸ who was “at the heart” of the far-left Occupy Wall Street protests and has been called a “leading left-wing activist” by the San Diego Union-Tribune. ⁹

History and Leadership

Citizens’ Oversight Projects (COPs) was founded by Raymond Lutz in 2006 as the Citizens Oversight Project Committee. ^{10 11 12} In March 2007, Lutz became the executive director of Citizens’ Oversight Projects. ^{13 14} COPs was given tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in 2011. ¹⁵

Lutz is a self-described “progressive activist” ¹⁶ who has been called a “leading left-wing activist” by the San Diego Union-Tribune. ¹⁷ Lutz runs COPs’s AuditEngine.org project ¹⁸ and was “at the heart” of the far-left Occupy Wall Street movement. ¹⁹

In 2010, Lutz unsuccessfully challenged then-Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) for U.S. Congress as a Democrat in California’s 52nd Congressional District. ^{20 21} He declined to run for office in California’s 53rd Congressional District in 2019 after forming an exploratory committee. ^{22 23} In 2016, Lutz addressed protestors at a Detroit demonstration that was also attended by environmental activist and then-Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. ²⁴

Activities and Funding

Citizens’ Oversight Projects co-signed a letter by left-of-center Scrutineers and the National Voting Rights Task Force supporting the passage of the “For the People Act,” which would federalize U.S. elections. ²⁵

Other projects COPs pursues include climate issues, automated election-data harvesting, and the open ballot initiative. ²⁶ COPs trains election activists to engage officials in local government meetings, ²⁷ records public meetings, and participates in rallies and protests. ²⁸ COPs opposed the 2019 government shutdown, ²⁹ has given awards to local election officials, ³⁰ and previously operated the left-of-center online radio service AirProgressive.org. ^{31 32}

Projects

Citizens’ Oversight Projects wants every election in the United States audited and has sought or gained access to ballot images in states including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Wisconsin. ³³ In 2019, the group launched the cloud-based election-auditing service, AuditEngine.org, which seeks to upload archives of ballot images to serve as “risk limiting audit.” ^{34 35 36}

COPs also runs the Easy Voting Project, a national effort that supports same-day voter registration to increase ballot access. ³⁷ The project opposes “difficult voter registration,” voter registration deadlines weeks before an election, removal of voters from the rolls who are registered in multiple jurisdictions, “onerous” voter ID requirements, intense provisional ballot screening, voting-at-home precincts, and others. ³⁸

In 2018, COPs filed petitions with the U.S. government to change procedures regarding the storage of spent nuclear fuel while doing business as the Coalition to Decommission San Onofre. ^{39 40}

Election-Related Activities

In 2021, Citizens’ Oversight Projects sent a letter to the county clerk of Dane County, Wisconsin, requesting ballot images to enter into its AuditEngine service. ⁴¹

After the 2016 election, COPs founder Raymond Lutz launched a campaign to recount votes from the Democratic Presidential primary in San Diego County. He said that he suspected Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (D) received more votes in the region than Hillary Clinton (D) and should have won the Democratic presidential primary. ⁴² COPs then sued then-Registrar of Voters Michael Vu for access to the ballots. ^{43 44}

COPs organized a rally against the American Legislative Council (ALEC) in San Diego, California, in 2015. ⁴⁵

Funding

Citizens’ Oversight Projects receives funding from individual donations ⁴⁶ and fundraisers. ⁴⁷

In 2020, COPs reported $104,857 of revenue and $118,260 of expenses. ⁴⁸ In 2019, COPs reported revenue of $475,198 and expenses of $414,170. ⁴⁹

1. “Letter to U.S. Senators.” Scrutineers and the National Voting Rights Task Force. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.nvrtf.org/ewExternalFiles/Senators!.pdf.
2. ^[1] “Citizens’ Oversight Announces New Election Auditing Service AuditEngine.org.” Citizen’ Oversight Projects (COPs) Press Release. October 4, 2019. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://webcms.pima.gov/UserFiles/Servers/Server_6/File/Government/Elections%20Department/Election%20Integrity%20Commission/2019/EIC%20Documents/10-2019/Item%209%20-%20Dr.%20Ryan’s%20Op-Ed%20on%20Election%20Security.pdf.
3. “Welcome to AuditEngine.” AuditEngine.org. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://auditengine.org/about/about/.
4. “RE: Questions about the 2020 Election Day in DANE COUNTY, WI.” Letter from Citizens’ Oversight Projects (COPs) to Patricia Anderson. July 25, 2021. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://timesofsandiego.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DANE-COUNTY-LETTERS.pdf.
5. Stewart, Joshua. Man sues county so he can personally recount last year’s election votes.” The San Diego Union-Tribune. July 28, 2017. Accessed via Web Archive February 18, 2023. https://archive.ph/jkCpb.
6. “Easy Voting Project.” Citizens’ Oversight Projects. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://copswiki.org/Common/EasyVoting.
7. “Raymond Lutz.” Raymond Lutz LinkedIn Profile. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/raylutz/.
8. “Twitter Bio.” Ray Lutz Twitter Profile. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://twitter.com/raymondlutz.
9. “El Cajon activist at heart of Occupy movement.” The San Diego Union-Tribune. December 2, 2011. Accessed via Web Archive February 18, 2023. https://archive.ph/tqJYF.
10. Laitner, Bill. “Clinton and Trump gain votes in Macomb County’s recount.” Detroit Free Press. December 6, 2016. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/macomb/2016/12/06/macomb-county-deals-recount/95057344/.
11. “CitizensOversight, Inc.” Short Form Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990-EZ). 2020. Part I. https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/274686736_202012_990EZ_2022083020306278.pdf.
12. “Green Party’s Dr. Jill Stein in Detroit.” Detroit Free Press. December 10, 2016. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.detroitnews.com/picture-gallery/news/2016/12/10/green-partys-dr-jill-stein-in-detroit/95268136/.
13. “Raymond Lutz.” Raymond Lutz LinkedIn Profile. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/raylutz/.
14. “CitizensOversight, Inc.” Short Form Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990-EZ). 2020. Part I. https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/274686736_202012_990EZ_2022083020306278.pdf.
15. “Letter of Determination.” Department of Treasury. Internal Revenue Service. October 14, 2011. Accessed February 17, 2023. https://copswiki.org/w/pub/Common/DonateToCitizensOversight/irs_letter_confirming_501c3_status.pdf.
16. “Twitter Bio.” Ray Lutz Twitter Profile. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://twitter.com/raymondlutz.
17. “El Cajon activist at heart of Occupy movement.” The San Diego Union-Tribune. December 2, 2011. Accessed via Web Archive February 18, 2023. https://archive.ph/tqJYF.
18. Raftery, Miriam. “Ray Lutz Opts Not To Run for Congress in 53^rd District; Will Lead Development of Ballot Image Auditing Platform, AuditEngine.org.” East County Magazine. November 4, 2019. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/ray-lutz-opts-not-run-congress-53rd-district-will-lead-development-ballot-image-auditing-platform.
19. “El Cajon activist at heart of Occupy movement.” The San Diego Union-Tribune. December 2, 2011. Accessed via Web Archive February 18, 2023. https://archive.ph/tqJYF.
20. “Drumbeat San Diego Session: Citizens’ Oversight Projects.” New Media Rights. January 14, 2021. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.newmediarights.org/nmr/drumbeat_san_diego_session_citizens_oversight_projects.
21. “Raymond Lutz.” Raymond Lutz LinkedIn Profile. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/raylutz/.
22. Raftery, Miriam. “Ray Lutz Opts Not To Run for Congress in 53^rd District; Will Lead Development of Ballot Image Auditing Platform, AuditEngine.org.” East County Magazine. November 4, 2019. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/ray-lutz-opts-not-run-congress-53rd-district-will-lead-development-ballot-image-auditing-platform.
23. “Ray Lutz.” Ray Lutz Website. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://raylutz.com/.
24. “Green Party’s Dr. Jill Stein in Detroit.” Detroit Free Press. December 10, 2016. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.detroitnews.com/picture-gallery/news/2016/12/10/green-partys-dr-jill-stein-in-detroit/95268136/.
25. “Letter to U.S. Senators.” Scrutineers and the National Voting Rights Task Force. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.nvrtf.org/ewExternalFiles/Senators!.pdf
26. “Open Ballot Initiative.” Citizens’ Oversight Project. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://copswiki.org/w/bin/view/Common/OpenBallotInitiative.
27. “Drumbeat San Diego Session: Citizens’ Oversight Projects.” New Media Rights. January 14, 2021. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.newmediarights.org/nmr/drumbeat_san_diego_session_citizens_oversight_projects.
28. “Citizens Oversight Projects (COPs).” Citizens’ Oversight Projects. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://copswiki.org/Common/WebHome.
29. Elkalla, Mimi. “Local group holding government shutdown protest downtown.” ABC 10 News San Diego. January 10, 2019. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/local-group-to-protest-partial-government-shutdown.
30. Hertz, Noah. “Ballot auditor: Volusia County supervisor of elections did a good job.” The West Volusia Beacon. August 28, 2021. Accessed February 20, 2023. https://beacononlinenews.com/2021/08/28/ballot-auditor-volusia-county-supervisor-of-elections-did-a-good-job/.
31. “Air Progressive.” Citizens’ Oversight Projects. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://copswiki.org/w/bin/view/Common/AirProgressive.
32. “AirProgressive.org Streaming Radio.” AirProgressive.org. March 14, 2020. Accessed via Web Archive. March 14, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20200314215612/http://airprogressive.org/.
33. Stone, Ken. “El Cajon Democrat Wants Every Election in America Audited, Starts with 4 States.” Times of San Diego. September 8, 2021. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://timesofsandiego.com/politics/2021/09/08/el-cajon-democrat-wants-every-election-in-america-audited-starts-with-4-states/.
34. “Citizens’ Oversight Announces New Election Auditing Service AuditEngine.org.” Citizen’ Oversight Projects (COPs) Press Release. October 4, 2019. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://webcms.pima.gov/UserFiles/Servers/Server_6/File/Government/Elections%20Department/Election%20Integrity%20Commission/2019/EIC%20Documents/10-2019/Item%209%20-%20Dr.%20Ryan’s%20Op-Ed%20on%20Election%20Security.pdf.
35. “Welcome to AuditEngine.” AuditEngine.org. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://auditengine.org/about/about/.
36. “RE: Questions about the 2020 Election Day in DANE COUNTY, WI.” Letter from Citizens’ Oversight Projects (COPs) to Patricia Anderson. July 25, 2021. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://timesofsandiego.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DANE-COUNTY-LETTERS.pdf.
37.  ^[1] Stewart, Joshua. Man sues county so he can personally recount last year’s election votes.” The San Diego Union-Tribune. July 28, 2017. Accessed via Web Archive February 18, 2023. https://archive.ph/jkCpb.
38. “Easy Voting Project.” Citizens’ Oversight Projects. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://copswiki.org/Common/EasyVoting.
39. Heinz, Eric. “Citizens’ Oversight Files Petition with Nuclear Regulatory Commission.” The Capistrano Dispatch. January 22, 2018. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.thecapistranodispatch.com/citizens-oversight-files-petition-nuclear-regulatory-commission/.
40. “Order Instituting Investigation on the Commission’s Own Motion into the Rates, Operations, Practices, Services and Facilities of Southern California Edison Company and San Diego Gas & Electric Company Associated with the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Units 2 and 3.” BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. Filed October 25, 2012. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/92103/000082705218000033/sanonofresettlementagreeme.htm.
41. “RE: Questions about the 2020 Election Day in DANE COUNTY, WI.” Letter from Citizens’ Oversight Projects (COPs) to Patricia Anderson. July 25, 2021. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://timesofsandiego.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DANE-COUNTY-LETTERS.pdf.
42. Stewart, Joshua. Man sues county so he can personally recount last year’s election votes.” The San Diego Union-Tribune. July 28, 2017. Accessed via Web Archive February 18, 2023. https://archive.ph/jkCpb.
43. Stone, Ken. “El Cajon Democrat Wants Every Election in America Audited, Starting with 4 States.” Times of San Diego. September 8, 2021. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://timesofsandiego.com/politics/2021/09/08/el-cajon-democrat-wants-every-election-in-america-audited-starts-with-4-states/.
44. “(Super. Ct. No. 37-2017-27595-CUMC-CTL).” Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One, State of California. Filed May 21, 2019. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/archive/D073522.PDF.
45. Porter, Doug. “San Diego Activists Go All In for Anti-Alec Protests.” San Diego Free Press. July 20, 20215. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://sandiegofreepress.org/2015/07/san-diego-activists-go-all-in-for-anti-alec-protests/#.Y_DZDuzML0o.
46. “Donate to Citizens Oversight.” Citizens Oversight Projects. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://copswiki.org/w/bin/view/Common/DonateToCitizensOversight.
47. “Election Audits using Ballot Images.” GoFundMe Fundraising Campaign. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.gofundme.com/f/election-audits-using-ballot-images?qid=4b1c64dd27f99057ab1f88e4537a0a88.
48. “CitizensOversight, Inc.” Short Form Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990-EZ). 2020. Part I. https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/274686736_202012_990EZ_2022083020306278.pdf.
49. “Citizens’ Oversight, Inc.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2019. Part I. https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/274686736_201912_990_2022031719785416.pdf.