Editorial: Show us the election fraud

Some of us choose to live in reality, knowing that the Earth isn’t flat, the moon landing wasn’t a hoax, and Barack Obama — who was born in the United States — authorized the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, despite what a Republican member of Congress said during an April 2 pro-Trump rally.

Michigan’s Rep. Lisa McClain stood on the podium during a “Save America” rally and said it was Donald Trump who “caught” bin Laden — the architect behind the 9/11 attacks on our country. Nice try, but Trump wasn’t even president in 2011, the year the al-Qaida leader was dispatched — during Barack Obama’s presidency.

When it comes to lies — especially those about who is in fact our duly elected president — someone needs to save us all by stepping up to say “enough is enough.”

Thankfully, someone did — and we want to thank her profusely.

Boulder County Clerk and Recorder Molly Fitzpatrick took a brave and unprecedented step by publicly denouncing rumors and accusations of election fraud at an April 3 news conference in Denver.

She wasn’t alone. Fitzpatrick joined several of her colleagues outside the Denver County Elections Division for a Colorado County Clerks Association news conference to say that the 2020 election was fair and secure.

It’s truly a shame this was even necessary. But the constant beating of the drum by conspiracy theorists has brought us to this point where good public servants must defend facts and a healthy democracy with vigilance.

Boulder County’s clerk said no, thousands of dead people did not vote in the 2020 election. And China never hacked Colorado’s voter registration database. She explained why she had to point these things out:

“Unfortunately, over the last several months, there have been claims from election deniers that purport to prove fraudulent elections in Colorado,” Fitzpatrick said. “These claims are often lengthy, and they’re often full of jargon, and they do not provide proof or data. They consistently demonstrate a lack of understanding of our process.”

It’s true no real data and evidence of massive election tampering has so far been presented, and these baseless accusations are wasting our precious time, energy and resources. In the words of Rod Tidwell, who was played by Cuba Gooding Jr. in the film “Jerry Maguire”: “Show me the money!”

Whenever scrupulous election officials try to set the record straight or simply do their job, they have been mercilessly attacked and threatened by election deniers who can’t stand to admit that Trump simply lost, which is why our county clerk and her colleagues deserve much praise for what was a preemptive strike against the circus that was coming to town.

On April 5, ringmaster Mike Lindell, who is known for selling pillows on television and for being a Trump sycophant, spoke in front of about 200 people who rallied at the state Capitol in support of “election truth” and Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters.

Peters is many things, including a leading voice in Colorado among election deniers. She’s also possibly a criminal, as she has been charged with 10 criminal counts of conspiracy by a grand jury, including seven felony charges related to her efforts to prove election fraud.

Peters hopes to be the GOP candidate to run against Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold this fall. It’s quite a mess, as Griswold is the one who has been investigating Peters for security breaches, such as when Peters was allegedly involved in passwords being leaked to unauthorized people who claim the 2020 election was rigged.

And don’t forget about the video that went viral in February, showing Peters trying to kick a police officer who was trying to serve her a warrant for an iPad while at Main Street Bagels in Grand Junction. The device was suspected to have a recording of a criminal court hearing for Peters’ deputy clerk. Witnesses saw Peters recording it, despite the judge’s orders not to record the session or face serious consequences.

Recounting Peters’ misdeeds is exhausting, and we don’t want to waste anymore space writing about it. If karma is real, she will, as the judge said, face the consequences.

We would much rather say the following:

Thank you, Molly Fitzpatrick and other top county election administrators who follow the North Star while the political chaos surrounds us.

— Julie Marshall for the Editorial Board