Election Integrity Network

The Election Integrity Network is a project of the Conservative Partnership Institute led by right-of-center election lawyer Cleta Mitchell. 1 It is a coalition of right-of-center leaders, organizations, public officials, and citizens dedicated to securing the legality of every American vote. 2 The organization has held summits in several battleground states in 2022. 3

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At-A-Glance

Type: Organization, Other
Issue Areas: Elections Policy
Project of:

Conservative Partnership Institute 1

Contents

    Background

    The Election Integrity Network is a project of the Conservative Partnership Institute. It states its mission is getting key players across the United States to restore election integrity safeguards that it claims “the left is trying to tear down.” 1

     

    Leadership

    Cleta Mitchell, a senior legal fellow for election integrity at the Conservative Partnership Institute, is the leader of the Election Integrity Network. 2 Mitchell has been a veteran election lawyer and conservative activist who sits on the board of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. 4 Mitchell has said she is creating “a volunteer army of citizens” to counter what she considers a Democratic bias in election offices across the country. 5

    The Election Integrity Network releases the Who’s Counting podcast hosted by Mitchell. 2

    Mitchell gave legal advice to former President Donald Trump in the wake of the 2020 election concerning the Georgia election outcome and the possibility of overturning it, and participated in the controversial phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) during which Trump urged Raffensperger to “find” more than 11,000 votes for Trump. 6 Mitchell would resign from the law firm Foley and Lardner after the call came to public attention. 7

    Activities

    The Election Integrity Network has held training sessions for activists and recruited volunteers to be poll workers and election monitors. The group suggests volunteers check the accuracy of voter rolls, the New York Times reported. 6

    The network publishes a “Citizens Guide to Building an Election Integrity Infrastructure.” 8

    The Election Integrity Network joined other conservative organizations to sponsor Election Integrity Summits in the states of Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. Heritage Action and Tea Party Patriots Action have been participants in such summits. 9 Officials from the Republican National Committee have also spoken at the summits. 10

    Summit sessions included how to form a “local election integrity taskforce,” how to protect “vulnerable voters from leftist activists,” “researching your local election office,” and “monitoring voting equipment and systems.” Some of the summits drew participation from right-leaning groups such as FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity. 3

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    References

    1. “About.” Conservative Partnership Institute. Accessed September 30, 2022. https://www.cpi.org/about
    2. Who’s Counting. Accessed September 30, 2022. https://whoscounting.us
    3. Stone, Peter. “‘Election integrity summits’ aim to fire up Trump activists over big lie.” The Guardian. April 18, 2022. Accessed September 30, 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/18/election-integrity-summits-conservative-partnership-institute
    4. The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. “Our People.” Board of Directors. Accessed October 10, 2022. https://www.bradleyfdn.org/our-people/tag/board-of-directors. [note] The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. “Our People.” Board of Directors. Accessed October 10, 2022. https://www.bradleyfdn.org/our-people/tag/board-of-directors.
    5. Berzon, Alexandra. “Lawyer Who Plotted to Overturn Trump Loss Recruits Election Deniers to Watch Over the Vote.” The New York Times. May 30, 2022. Accessed September 30, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/30/us/politics/republican-poll-monitors-election-activists.html
    6. Homans, Charles. “How ‘Stop the Steal’ Captured the American Right.” The New York Times. July 19, 2022. Accessed September 30, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/19/magazine/stop-the-steal.html
    7.  Patrice, Joe. “Cleta Mitchell out at Foley & Lardner after Troubling Donald Trump Call.” Above the Law, January 5, 2021. https://abovethelaw.com/2021/01/cleta-mitchell-out-at-foley-lardner-after-troubling-donald-trump-call/.
    8. “Resources.” Election Integrity Network. Who’s Counting. Accessed September 30, 2022. https://whoscounting.us/resources/
    9. [1] Stone, Peter. “‘Election integrity summits’ aim to fire up Trump activists over big lie.” The Guardian. April 18, 2022. Accessed September 30, 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/18/election-integrity-summits-conservative-partnership-institute
    10. Dreisbach, Tom. “What leaked audio tells us about Trump-linked “election integrity” efforts.” NPR. August 2, 2022. Accessed September 30, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/08/02/1115211891/what-leaked-audio-tells-us-about-trump-linked-election-integrity-efforts