July 29, 2021 11:03 AM UTC

So Much For "Needle Nazis"--Who's Going Door To Door Now?

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• by: Colorado Pols

As The Dispatch in York, Pennsylvania reports, local police are on alert for activists going door to door as part of a so-called “Election Integrity Project,” approaching voters to question them about how they voted in 2020 and who they voted for:

Various local officials say they have received reports that the group is visiting residents’ homes and questioning how the homeowner voted and who they voted for. The questioning comes as county officials weigh whether to comply with a “forensic audit” of the 2020 election spearheaded by state Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin County.

“There is an intimidation factor, and that’s what their intent is,” said Chad Baker, chair of the Democratic Party of York County. “The timing of this doesn’t seem suspect given the recent request of the audit by Sen. Mastriano.”

The individuals claiming to be a part of the committee seem to be targeting Democrats in an attempt to seek out voter fraud, a baseless claim that has cemented itself as a rallying cry for supporters of former President Donald Trump, Baker said.

Despite the thorough process of counting, auditing, and in several swing state recounting the 2020 vote which found no irregularities on a scale that could change the outcome of the election, Republicans continue to pursue baseless theories of election fraud in multiple states. In Arizona, the GOP-controlled State Senate authorized an open-ended fishing expedition by a dubious private contractor which months later has produced nothing but easily-debunked misinformation. Undeterred, other states with dead-ender Trump contingents holding the power to do so are preparing their own so-called audits, because, well, they can.

Going from endlessly recounting the same ballots over and over to accosting Democratic voters in their homes about their vote, however, represents a significant and disturbing escalation–not to mention hypocritical after Republicans lost their minds over misinformation regarding door to door promotion of COVID vaccines. In Pennsylvania, voters targeted were confused, perhaps by design, about whether the “election integrity committee” they claim to work for was in some way official.

The self-proclaimed committee touring southern York County used tactics that were nearly identical to a forensic audit being conducted by a company hired by state Senate Republicans in Arizona. The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, in a May 5 letter obtained by The York Dispatch, accused the firm Cyber Ninjas of voter intimidation because of its door-knocking practice.

You’re probably asking by now–why are we talking about this in Colorado? Unfortunately, there’s a pressing reason. Last weekend, an organization calling itself the U.S. Election Integrity Project with ties to freshman election conspiracy theorist of note GOP Rep. Ron Hanks allegedly began its own door to door “canvass” of voters in the Colorado Springs area:

Sat, Jul 24 – Sun, Jul 25
El Paso County Super Sat/Sunday Canvass – Come All!
Please let Charity M. or Deb Gray know if you can join. Our goal is to knock out at least one full precinct. We made the decision to assign one north end precinct (high VOS) on Saturday morning and a south end precinct (low VOS) on Sunday afternoon/evening.

Saturday 9:30am-2pm – The Windchime Center 401 Windchime Place E Woodmen Rd and Windchime Place Colorado Springs
Sunday 3:30pm-7pm – Fontaine Blvd and MarkSheffel at First Baptist Church of Peaceful Valley 7925 Fontaine Blvd 80925

Please invite any trusted willing parties and please bring affidavits. I’ll have a limited number. I can provide ID badges. If anyone is interested, we should plan to go out for a drink or bite following! Perhaps meet at The ViewHouse at 7114 Campus Drive after 2pm! I will likely have folks mail their affidavits back to me but will try to have a notary on hand at the ViewHouse.

Charity M, USEIP Captain El Paso County Jul 21
We need all the volunteers we can get!!
The north end precinct will be meeting at The Windchime Center at Rockrimmon Blvd and E. Woodmen Rd.
The Sat canvass will be at 930am in the Rockrimmon/Peregrine area. We will meet at The Windchime Center 401 Windchime Place E Woodmen Rd and Windchime Place.
Sunday’s walk will be on the south end of town at 330pm : meeting at First Baptist Church of Peaceful Valley 7925 Fontaine Blvd 80925

Pam P, Pueblo County Captain Jul 21
Question for Charity. Will you be supplying all Walk List forms, affidavits? Will there be enough experienced walkers to pair up with Pueblo volunteers? Is there anything we should bring with us?

Charity M, USEIP Captain El Paso County Jul 21
Also asking that photos of Walk Lists, Affidavits and any Property Photos be uploaded to the Photo Folder in El Paso County Team Docs&Files – Thanks a million!

Ashe, ADMIN – Core Team – Castle Rock Jul 21
Susan can we get the Douglas and Arapahoe folks to swarm in EPC this weekend as well?

Charity M, USEIP Captain El Paso County Jul 23
Thanks so much Pam. That is fantastic!!
And we are attempting to line up security. However, anyone who carries protection might want to let us know so we can offer your cell phone numbers to those who are concerned. [Pols emphasis]

This exchange of messages between members of the “Election Integrity Project” ahead of last weekend’s events is all the intel we’ve received about their activities in Colorado so far. We haven’t seen a follow-up report on what they may have found during last weekend’s door-knocking. Other than the fact that they are using the same organizational name and what appear to be similar tactics, we don’t know anything about the relationship between the “Election Integrity Project” here in Colorado vs. Pennsylvania.

But the evidence we have does indicate a reasonably well-organized campaign to send political activists high on Big Lie confirmation bias to knock on doors and ask Colorado voters questions those voters have absolutely no official obligation to answer.

And…some of them may be armed. So please be appropriately cautious.