Integrity of elections at all levels by any and all political parties is crucial for the survival of America. We know lying and cheating is theft. This is not new, it’s as old as time. It’s as simple as “Thou shalt not steal.” Exodus 20:15

Many voices were warning voters prior to last year’s election that fraud was already suspected. Voting machines, extra ballots, irregular voting practices, people voting twice, “dead” people voting, ballot harvesting, unauthorized persons voting, illegal persons voting, digital manipulation, etc, etc. It seems the list of ways people can cheat and commit fraud is unending.

That was then, but now it seems that election fraud or cheating may be closer to home in Greenville, SC. An elections committee has been commissioned by the Greenville County GOP to investigate potential voting “irregularities” in the last county delegate registration and officer voting election process.

Based on the GCGOP rules of engagement (primarily adopted from the SCGOP Rules), here are some of the critical points of inquiry underway by the GCGOP designated election committee. The committee is focused on winnowing down the key focus areas of their assignment. Here are some of their considerations.

• Evaluation of the third-party voting process for officers and the corresponding accuracy/integrity of the system used.
• 
• Analysis of the delegation registration process and whether it conformed to GCGOP and State GOP rules.
• Did anonymous donors pay for church registration fees and what were their ties to the Republican Party?
• Other potential issues of voting and registration malfeasance

Questions Being Considered:

• Did all those who were signed up as Greenville County delegates either show up to one of the county reorg meetings and/or are they listed on the poll list for the last primary and/or did they fill out the delegate registration form in compliance with the GCGOP and SCGOP State rules of engagement? One of these 3 requirements must have occurred to be delegate compliant and certified.
• Are the officer voting records and the FULL delegation registration processes being verified through the Republican Party voter database and registration forms? The end-to-end officer voting and delegate registration cycle MUST be analyzed in detail. The Republican Party has access to this information.
• As a designated election committee and an investigative arm for the GCGOP, if the committee is denied access to the primary voting records and other information to substantiate and verify the records, does this suggest a potential coverup?
• Are the delegate registration signatures on the forms authentic?
• Did anonymous donors pay for the church delegate registration fees and what are their ties to the Republican Party? Is the relationship between the Republican Party, the churches, and the anonymous donor(s) in good standing and beyond legal and ethical reproach?
• If the committee is allowed access to the primary voting records, verifying the date the delegates were added to the system for voting in the primary must be determined. The election committee must ascertain when the primary voting detail was perfected and logged. If the primary voting records were added and updated to the system in the last couple of months, the data may have been manipulated or compromised and added in at the last-minute in an effort to fit the delegate voting requirement, which is fraudulent.
• Did the precinct secretary and precinct president certify the names of precinct members, precinct officers and delegates and alternates, along with their own certifications, to the county chairman no later than five (5) days following the initial precinct meeting? The timing and proof of this is important.
• Was any delegate or alternate elected by the precinct less than five (5) days before the County Convention? If so, the delegates are not legitimate and are null and void. The timing and proof of this is important.
• Was a certified list of precinct members, precinct officers, and delegates and alternates  forwarded to the state chairman by the county chairman no later than seven (7) days following the initial meeting, and no later than three (3) days after a make-up meeting? The designated committee needs to verify this at state level. If not, the delegates may not be legitimate and their votes null and void. The timing and proof of this is important.

Potential Ballot Harvesting by Greenville County Churches:

The real disappointment comes with the apparent effort of the GOP establishment working to procure and harvest delegate registration forms in churches in a last-ditch effort to sway and manipulate the delegate registration process and impact the subsequent officer vote count.

Last minute delegate recruiting efforts took place in Greenville County that included an attempt to have BOTH local area church members and church staff stuff delegate registration forms and then vote for the Republican Party establishment officer candidates, unawares. A complete review is now underway by a Greenville County GOP designated election committee that will isolate the alleged infractions and to see if voter fraud or election impropriety has occurred.

Many church staff and members were being signed up with little-to-NO prior political involvement and without ever attending a party reorganization meeting. In fact, many have never been involved in the political process at all. This appears to be an attempt as a last-minute response by the Republican establishment in Greenville County to the overwhelming grassroots recruitment effort made by members of the more conservative element of the party typically called the “MAGA” movement. Those familiar with the machinations of party politics say it appears to have the brush of “Republican establishment” tactics.

Some within the party say the moderate RINO element of the GCGOP realized that they had lost the recruitment effort on the front end through aggressive grassroots mobilization. Instead of more vigorous and aggressive action did they opt to stuff the delegate registration forms on the back end just before the voting process? Did it have a dramatic impact on the officer election process? If this is what happened, and it is suspect that this is what happened, it did have a direct and dramatic impact on the process!

Does this potential ballot harvesting approach being investigated by the GCGOP election committee abridge the SPIRIT of grassroots mobilization and simply manipulate a time-honored GCGOP tradition of hard work and grassroots engagement on the front end? By all appearances, the Greenville County GOP establishment knew they were in trouble and found a work around solution to manipulate the results.

Manipulating the format of an election is not out of bounds for Republican Party RINOs based on recent convention changes occurring midstream and other workarounds relating to the Republican Party campaign for State Chair. When you can’t win on the substance of the debate and grassroots organization, simply change or manipulate the rules to one’s advantage seems to be the modus operandi.

An all-out effort was made to register like-minded Greenville area churches sympathetic to the Republican establishment cause, preying on and leveraging ties to these church affiliates in order to overcome an enthusiastic and motivated MAGA grassroots movement. On its face, no harm, no foul. The question that the designated GCGOP election committee must answer is whether this was done by following the rules of engagement.

GCGOP RULES OF ENGAGEMENT ARE CLEAR:

SCGOP Rules 2015.doc  PAGE 10

(5) Delegates and alternates to the county convention shall be elected from among the members of the precinct in attendance and/or those whose membership is set forth in the poll list of the preceding primary election and/or those who are absent from the reorganization meeting but who have submitted the properly signed forms. In situations where there are more members present wishing to run for county delegate than delegate positions available (or those who have submitted proper paperwork), a vote shall be taken with each present eligible member having as many votes to cast as delegate positions available. No member absent from the meeting may cast a vote, but they may be voted for and considered a candidate. In the case of fewer members present than delegate slots allotted, all members shall become delegates. A list of the candidates shall be arranged in the order of the number of votes received by them, with the candidate receiving the greatest number ranked first, and candidates with fewer votes ranked in descending order of the number of votes received by each in succession. The number of votes received by each candidate also shall be shown on said list. In the case of a tie, the position of the tying candidates on the list shall be determined by drawing lots. Those candidates with the most votes will be delegates, and the rest will be alternates in descending order of the total number of votes received. Delegates and alternates are not required to be in attendance at the precinct meeting. Each precinct shall have one delegate for every twenty-five (25) members and major fraction thereof, based upon the number of votes polled in the first primary of the preceding general election year or based upon the number of votes for presidential electors at the last preceding general election thereof from the precinct as determined by the State Executive Committee; or if the last preceding nominations were by convention, the representation shall be based upon the number of votes for presidential electors at the last preceding general election therefore from the precinct (7-9-70). All precinct representation shall be based on the same election. An equal number of alternates may also be elected. The precinct secretary and precinct president shall certify the names of precinct members, precinct officers and delegates and alternates, along with their own certifications, to the county chairman no later than five (5) days following the initial precinct meeting. Vacancies in any precinct delegation at any County South Carolina Republican Party Rules 11 Convention or reconvened convention shall be filled from among the alternate delegates present. No delegate or alternate shall be elected by the precinct less than five (5) days before the County Convention. A certified list of precinct members, precinct officers and delegates and alternates shall be forwarded to the State Chairman by the county chairman no later than seven (7) days following the initial meeting, and no later than three (3) days after a make-up meeting. The county chairman shall make the certified list of delegates and alternates to the county convention available to any delegate, alternate or precinct officer no later than three (3) days after a make-up meeting. Such certified lists shall contain all contact information known to the county party. Upon receipt of the lists from the precinct, the county chairman shall promptly notify the precinct president of any irregularities found therein, and conversely, the precinct president shall be informed if the lists are in order.

Whether or not the designated GCGOP election committee finds any voting irregularities, tampering, and/or malfeasance remains to be seen.

Ballot-Harvesting is the new way to steal an election.

However, what is true is that the initiator of this tactic compromised the spirit of the grassroots reorganization effort, by preying on religious organizations through last minute delegate registration, ballot stuffing and harvesting. Most will consider those efforts a cowardly, manipulative, and lazy approach at best. In the worst case, based on the election committee’s investigation results, they could be fraudulent in nature. But, everyone must ask, “Does this approach promote the Republican philosophy, principles, and creed found in the Republican Party Creed?”

Republicans have fought these “ballot harvesting” approaches by the Democrats on the other side of the isle for years. Have they now enjoined these tactics because it helps them manipulate and win at the ballot box? Voter integrity is front and center in our nation.

If malfeasance is found, would it make sense if the designated election committee’s recommendations include censure, removal, or other Republican Party disciplinary actions for those involved? I think so.

It would also make sense if the GCGOP designated committee would recommend a resolution to batten down the rules of engagement to allow for free and fair county registrations and voting processes. Voting irregularities or manipulation cannot be allowed to stand in any way, shape or form in the GCGOP, SCGOP or any other political organization. This is about integrity in America and with the American people, it’s about trust, honesty and assurance that elections are fraud free.

If there is no evidence of impropriety, then the designated election committee would have done its due diligence of making sure that this GCGOP delegate registration and officer voting election process was fair and integral. But, if we cannot have a legitimate election at the local level, can we really expect to have legitimate elections at any level? And if we cannot expect to have legitimate elections with integrity and free of fraud, do we really have a country that will stand for any length of time?

Michael Reed is Editor and Publisher of The Standard newspaper, print and online, and TheStandardSC YouTube channel where many video reports may be found. Please share freely and donate to The Standard on this page to assure the continued availability of news that is ignored too often by the dominant media.

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