‘Big Lie’ supporters claimed fraud in Idaho’s results. Election officials investigated and found nothing

R&I – FS

Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

Updated 2:45 PM ET, Thu September 30, 2021

(CNN)Idaho election officials thought they might be on to something.

They recently received a document apparently created by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, one of the primary voices still pushing the Big Lie, that claimed widespread fraud in the state during the 2020 election.
“The office of the Idaho Secretary of State takes free, fair, and accurate elections seriously,” Secretary of State Lawrence Denney, a Republican, explained to a local TV affiliate in the state. “So when we are presented with allegations that come with specific details which we can examine, we want to do so.”

The document, which was titled “The Big Lie,” because of course it was, alleged that there was vote manipulation across Idaho in 2020. “This document alleged electronic manipulation in all 44 counties. At least 7 Idaho counties have no electronic steps in their vote counting processes,” Chief Deputy Secretary of State Chad Houck said. “That was a huge red flag, and one we knew we could either prove or disprove fairly directly.”

Wanting to get to the bottom of the claims, the Secretary of State’s office sent out two employees to examine the manipulation claims in two of the state’s smallest counties by population: Camas and Butte. In Butte, Joe Biden’s vote count stayed exactly the same while Donald Trump’s dropped by 9. (“The Big Lie” documents said Biden had received only 130 votes in the county.) In Carnas? Biden’s vote total was exactly the same as had been previously reported while Trump gained a single vote — from 507 to 508.

Continued

Carl Sagan

Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/30/politics/idaho-election-results-big-lie/index.html