Youngkin walks the fine line on ‘electoral integrity’

“I think we have to make sure people trust these voting machines. And I just think I grew up in a world where you have an audit every year. In companies you have an audit,” he said. Youngkin said Monday in a conversation. with a Richmond organization interviewing candidates, reiterating a proposal he made eight months ago when he launched an “Election Integrity Task Force” in the fight for the Republican nomination.

Yet last month, in the second and final debate against Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe ahead of the November election, Youngkin said the 2020 campaign results were “certifiable fair” and that there had been no “material fraud”. The Virginia State Board of Elections audit report, released in March, confirmed the results of the 2020 Virginia presidential election and the Senate campaign that saw Democrat Mark Warner reelected.

This question, more than others in the running, highlights the fine line Youngkin has to travel in a Commonwealth that has turned to Democrats in recent years. Youngkin, in advertisements and at events, has portrayed himself as a political outsider independent of mainstream political operations – in a bid to win back more moderate voters who fled his party in 2016 and 2020 in response to Trump. At the same time, Youngkin needs to keep the Republican base motivated, primarily by addressing issues such as crime, education and, most importantly, the results of the 2020 election.

Trump, who has backed Youngkin, has so far spent much of his post-presidency trumpeting baseless claims about the election, praising Republicans who follow his lead and attacking those who don’t. On Wednesday, Trump’s political organization sent out a press release pushing for an article about Youngkin’s call for an audit.

In an interview with CNN’s Jeff Zeleny last month, Youngkin said he had been “very clear that there was no massive fraud in Virginia” but that as governor he would “invest in our electoral process “so that Virginians have” faith in our election “. deal. ”He also attacked McAuliffe for trying to“ politicize everything ”and“ make one word, election integrity a bad word ”.

But the more Youngkin delves into the electoral integrity message, the more McAuliffe uses his comments to tie the Republican to Trump, which the Democrat has done throughout the 2021 campaign.

“Glenn Youngkin’s priorities are clear: He is running for governor to bring Donald Trump’s dangerous conspiracy theories to Virginia,” McAuliffe said in a statement this week. “At a time when Virginians worry about good jobs, quality education and rising health care costs, Glenn called his Trumpian electoral integrity plan ‘the biggest issue’. ”

McAuliffe hopes that by tying Youngkin to Trump, voters in suburban Washington, DC, who fled the Republican Party in response to the former president, will respond similarly to the party’s candidate for governor.

McAuliffe added, “He refuses to abandon conspiracy theories for Trump’s 2020 election.… This behavior is dangerous and disqualifying.”

Matt Wolking, a spokesperson for Youngkin, responded to McAuliffe by saying the Republican has been “clear on his take on the 2020 election and nothing has changed,” adding that Youngkin “believes the audits are a best practice when it comes to administering elections – just as audits are a routine best practice in business, and it will ensure that Virginia continues to conduct audits in the future and that ‘they are thorough, efficient and precise. “