Ignoring Arizona Humiliation, ‘Stop the Steal’ Races Forward

After each the scurrying, searching, sifting, speculating, hand-counting and bamboo-hunting had ended, Republicans’ post-mortem reappraisal of predetermination results successful Arizona’s largest region coiled up lone adding to President Biden’s borderline of triumph there.

But for those who person tried to undermine assurance successful American elections and restrict voting, the existent findings of the Maricopa County review that were released connected Friday did not look to substance successful the slightest. Former President Donald J. Trump and his loyalists redoubled their efforts to equine a full-scale relitigation of the 2020 election.

Any fleeting thought that the nonaccomplishment of the Arizona workout to unearth immoderate caller trove of Trump votes oregon a smoking weapon of predetermination fraud mightiness derail the alleged Stop the Steal question dissipated abruptly. As draught copies of the study began to circulate precocious Thursday, Trump allies ignored the caller tally, alternatively zeroing successful connected the report’s specious claims of malfeasance, inconsistencies and errors by predetermination officials.

Significant parts of the close treated the completion of the Arizona reappraisal arsenic a vindication — offering a caller canard to warrant an accelerated propulsion for new voting limits and measures to springiness Republican authorities lawmakers greater power implicit elections. It besides provided further substance for the older prevarication that is present cardinal to Mr. Trump’s governmental identity: that the 2020 predetermination was stolen from him.

“The leaked study conclusively shows determination were capable fraudulent votes, enigma votes, and fake votes to alteration the result of the predetermination 4 oregon 5 times over,” Mr. Trump said successful a connection aboriginal Friday evening, 1 of 7 helium had issued astir Arizona since precocious Thursday. “There is fraud and cheating successful Arizona and it indispensable beryllium criminally investigated!”

For Mr. Trump, Republican candidates vying to entreaty to voters successful superior races, and blimpish activists agitating for predetermination reviews successful their ain states, the 91-page papers served arsenic thing of a choose-your-own-adventure guide. These leaders encouraged their supporters to avert their eyes from the decision that Mr. Biden had so won legitimately, and to alternatively absorption connected fodder for a caller acceptable of conspiracy theories.

“Now that the audit of Maricopa is wrapping up, we request to Audit Pima County — the 2nd largest region successful AZ,” Mark Finchem, a Republican campaigner for caput of authorities successful Arizona who supported the effort successful Maricopa, wrote on Twitter. “There are 35k votes successful question from aggregate sources & I privation answers.”

Even Republicans who bash not subscribe to mendacious claims of predetermination fraud are utilizing investigations to warrant much restrictive voting laws. In Michigan, State Senator Ed McBroom, a Republican who leads his chamber’s elections committee and wrote an unsparing study successful July debunking an array of Trump-inspired fraud claims, said Friday that the find of imaginable avenues for predetermination fraud — not grounds of fraud itself — was crushed capable to walk caller voting restrictions.

“Just similar we recovered successful Michigan, it’s bully that we recovered that these vulnerabilities weren’t exploited to immoderate important grade successful this election,” Mr. McBroom said successful an interview. “It doesn’t mean that idiosyncratic mightiness not usage them successful the future.”

Cherry-picking from the study connected Friday, the erstwhile president and his allies cited a bid of eye-popping statistic that, connected archetypal glance, appeared to bolster their case, trusting that their supporters either would not digest the papers successful afloat oregon would not spot the mainstream quality outlets that laid retired its implicit contents.

Peter Navarro, a erstwhile advisor to Mr. Trump, falsely claimed connected Twitter that the study had shown that 50,000 perchance amerciable votes were formed successful Maricopa County. That fig was successful information the tally of ballots that the study — done questionable methodology — described arsenic problematic successful immoderate way.

Liz Harrington, a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, pointed connected Twitter to “23,000+ Phantom Voters.” This was seemingly a notation to 23,344 mail-in ballots that Cyber Ninjas, the institution assigned by Arizona Republicans to transportation retired the review, had claimed came from voters listed nether anterior addresses. (Such claims were quickly refuted by the Maricopa County elections board, which said that “this is ineligible nether national predetermination law.”)

Proponents of the Arizona reappraisal seized connected vague suggestions by the report’s authors that “canvassing,” oregon the communal governmental run signifier of knocking connected doors, was needed. Without defining what benignant of canvass they had successful mind, galore Republicans successful Arizona and beyond made the connection a caller rallying outcry successful the hunt for predetermination fraud.

“Canvass Maricopa,” Wendy Rogers, a Republican authorities legislator successful Arizona, wrote connected Twitter.

The Arizona review, and akin partisan predetermination investigations astir the country, are 1 spear successful a multipronged effort by Mr. Trump and his allies to quality the result of the 2020 contention and to overhaul aboriginal American elections.

That propulsion has alarmed Democrats, good-government groups and historians, who constituent to the ways that Mr. Trump undermined antiauthoritarian norms portion successful office, including his combat to subvert past year’s election, an effort that culminated successful the Capitol riot.

New grounds for their arguments emerged this week successful the signifier of a memo unearthed successful a caller book by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa of The Washington Post. According to the memo, drafted by John Eastman, a Republican lawyer who worked with the Trump campaign, by refusing to judge the results, Mr. Trump could assistance punctual a authorities legislature to nonstop an alternate slate of electors to Congress.

The memo concluded that, with aggregate slates to consider, erstwhile Vice President Mike Pence and allies successful Congress could garbage to certify the states successful question, which would nullify the predetermination results and pb alternatively to a ballot successful the House of Representatives connected the president, with each authorities delegation receiving 1 vote.

In 2020, Republicans held the vantage successful authorities delegations, with 26, meaning that Mr. Trump would person successfully overturned the predetermination successful this scenario.

Trump’s Bid to Subvert the Election

Now, arsenic Mr. Trump continues to contradict Mr. Biden’s legitimacy, Republicans astir the state person embarked connected a ngo to upend the electoral process. They person sought to springiness Republican-controlled authorities legislatures much power implicit however American elections are run; aggressively pushed to bounds voting, passing much than 30 specified laws successful 18 states; and recruited candidates who person espoused predetermination conspiracy theories to tally for positions similar caput of authorities and region clerk.

Support for predetermination reviews similar Arizona’s has go a litmus trial successful Republican superior elections.

“Arizona indispensable decertify!” erstwhile Gov. Eric Greitens of Missouri, who is successful a crowded G.O.P. superior for an unfastened Senate spot successful the state, wrote connected Twitter connected Friday. “We MUST person forensic audits crossed the country!”

Even candidates successful states Mr. Trump won easy past twelvemonth person echoed his calls to revisit the results.

“In states similar OHIO wherever Trump won by monolithic margins, helium astir apt really won by adjacent larger margins were it not for the Democrat cheating,” Josh Mandel, a Republican moving for Senate successful Ohio, said connected Twitter.

Democrats, voting rights advocates and mean Republicans reacted to the Arizona predetermination report’s merchandise with a premix of resignation and fury, calling the endeavor a discarded of time, wealth and attention. But immoderate darkly expressed an knowing that the travel of lies astir the 2020 predetermination would not ebb.

Katie Hobbs, who arsenic the Democratic caput of authorities successful Arizona pushed backmost forcefully connected the review, wrote successful a fund-raising entreaty that “I privation I could archer you that I’m excited to enactment each this to rest, but I’m not naïve.” Ms. Hobbs, who is moving for politician successful 2022, added, “I cognize far-right Republicans and conspiracy theorists volition proceed to travel aft maine careless of the results.”

In immoderate states wherever Republicans power the levers of government, the effort to undermine assurance successful elections has been incorporated into authoritative policy.

Late Thursday, the Texas caput of state’s bureau announced that it would reappraisal results from 4 ample counties, 3 won by Mr. Biden and 1 carried by Mr. Trump. Pennsylvania legislators person sought the idiosyncratic information, including driver’s licence numbers, of astir 7 cardinal voters arsenic portion of a sprawling Republican review. And successful Wisconsin, the Republican talker of the State Assembly tapped a blimpish erstwhile State Supreme Court Justice to behaviour an predetermination investigation — days aft Mr. Trump threatened the state’s G.O.P. leaders with consequences if they did not instrumentality action.

None of it has been capable to fulfill Mr. Trump oregon his astir fervent supporters.

In Wisconsin, a right-wing radical called Rise Up, led by David A. Clarke Jr., a erstwhile Milwaukee County sheriff known for spreading conspiracy theories and wearing audacious cowboy hats, has for months applied nationalist unit connected Republican lawmakers to transportation retired an Arizona-style reappraisal of the state’s 2020 results.

But connected Friday morning, aft quality of the Arizona study had circulated for hours, the radical sent supporters a warning: “Arizona is either going to enactment our efforts successful Wisconsin,” it wrote, “or it volition origin america to beryllium a canine with our process betwixt our legs and tally for the hills!”