Statement by Republican Trevor Potter on Attempts to Undermine the Integrity of the 2020 Election

Americans should ignore the anxiety-inducing rhetoric of this evening’s news conference and remember President Trump lacks legal authority to circumvent our nation’s election procedures

WASHINGTON – Trevor Potter, President of Campaign Legal Center (CLC), a Republican former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission, and former General Counsel to John McCain’s presidential campaigns, released the following statement in response to attempts by the president to undermine the integrity of the U.S. election:

“Trump’s remarks were clearly designed to weaken confidence in our election system. We can’t let them. An ongoing and transparent vote count means that democracy is working because every vote needs to be counted. The most important outcome of the election is not who wins or loses, but that votes are counted accurately, and the candidate chosen by the voters is elected.

Trump’s remarks tonight are the exact opposite of the message the White House should be sending to voters across the country about their power to determine America’s future. Braving a pandemic, hardworking election officials have stood shoulder to shoulder to finish the vote count. Putting political differences aside, they are making sure democracy is delivered for the American people. Instead of impugning the integrity of election officials and calling them and the process they oversee “corrupt”, the president should be saying thank you. Thank you for making sure voters are heard, even at personal risk during this nationwide pandemic.

Americans should ignore the anxiety-inducing rhetoric of this evening’s news conference and remember President Trump lacks legal authority to circumvent our nation’s election procedures. Votes are still being counted across the country and will be until every vote has been accounted for. We have a resilient system of safeguards in place – outside the president’s control – in which ballots are validated and counted.

Our elections are highly decentralized, and our system is resilient. They include 50 separate counts across the states and Washington DC. Each is administered by qualified officials who take their job of counting eligible votes seriously. In Nevada and Georgia, there are Republican Secretaries of State and in Arizona and Pennsylvania there are Democratic Secretaries of State. All have uniformly committed to a fair, accurate and transparent count. That won’t change now.

Every elected Republican must stand up for our democracy and speak out against any attempts to undermine the integrity of our election system and undermine public confidence in whoever is declared the winner. The American people choose their leaders. Politicians don’t decide the results of elections, voters do.”