A Republican lawyer who advised Donald Trump in his campaign to overturn the 2020 election results is now playing a central role in coordinating the Republican effort to tighten voting laws across the country.
The measures come at a time when Trump himself signals his support for new legislation promoted by Republicans in Georgia, which critics see as a major blow to the voting rights of communities of color, especially black voters. Joe Biden called Georgia’s laws “Jim Crow in the 21st century” and “an atrocity”.
But Trump, whose control over the Republican Party remains strong, welcomed events in Georgia. “Congratulations to Georgia and the Georgia state legislature for changing their electoral rules and regulations,” said Trump in a statement through Pac, Save America, which repeated his baseless claim that fraud was a factor in his electoral defeat for Biden . “They learned from the farce in the 2020 presidential election, which can never happen again. Too bad these changes could not have been made before! “
Trump is still a dominant force between the party’s Republican base and its support for restricting voting rights – and the involvement of people close to him – reveals the party’s likely future direction while facing the diversification of demographic trends in America at odds with its mostly white support.
Cleta Mitchell, a longtime Republican lawyer and advocate for conservative causes, was among Trump’s advisers in a phone call in January in which Trump asked Georgia election officials to “find” enough votes to declare him, not Biden, the winner of the battle state.
Mitchell has now taken charge of two separate efforts to push for stricter state election laws and to fight Democratic efforts to expand access to voting at the federal level. It is also advising state legislators in drafting proposals to restrict voting. And she maintains regular contact with Trump.
“People are really interested in getting involved and we have to use all that energy,” said Mitchell in an interview with the Associated Press. “There are many groups that have projects on electoral integrity that they have never had before.”
Trump’s false allegations of fraud during and after the 2020 elections fueled a wave of new voting restrictions.
More than 250 proposals for voting restrictions have been proposed this year by most Republican lawmakers, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
On Thursday, the Republican governor of Georgia signed a measure that requires voters to present identity to vote by mail, gives the Republican-controlled state legislature new powers over local electoral boards and outlaws who provide food. or water to people waiting in line to vote.
In response, Democrats have stepped up pressure for a major federal election reform project. This proposal, known as HR1, would effectively neutralize voter identification laws at the state level, allow anyone to vote by mail if they wanted to, and automatically register citizens to vote. Republicans see this as a usurpation of state control over elections and say it was created to give Democrats an advantage.
“The left is trying to dismantle 100 years of advancement in the electoral administration,” said Mitchell, expressing perplexity at Democrats’ accusations that Republicans are trying to suppress votes. “We are watching two different films now.”
Mitchell’s most public involvement in the election wars came from participating in Trump’s phone call to Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, on January 2. During that call, Mitchell insisted that she had evidence of electoral fraud, but officials in the secretary of state’s office said her details were incorrect.
Mitchell has two new roles in an emerging conservative voting operation. She is running a $ 10 million initiative in the FreedomWorks government’s limited group to push for new voting restrictions and help train conservatives to get involved in the nuts and bolts of local elections.
She is also a senior jurist at the Conservative Partnership Institute, an organization run by former Republican senator Jim DeMint. She says she will use this function to “coordinate” conservative voting positions, especially in opposition to HR 1.
Mitchell, 70, has connections with other influential players in the conservative movement and serves as an outside lawyer for the American Legislative Exchange Committee, a conservative group that provides model legislation for state legislators and organizes a summons with state legislators and Ted Cruz, the senator of the state. Texas, as opposed to HR 1.
Mitchell told the Associated Press that he has been talking regularly with Republican state lawmakers about the need for new electoral laws. She did not identify with whom she spoke, but said it is a long-standing passion.
She likewise did not detail her conversations with Trump or say whether they involved the new voting struggles. “I’m in contact with the president quite often,” she said of Trump.
Repeated audits showed no significant problems with the 2020 elections. Trump and his supporters lost more than 50 lawsuits contesting their results.