'Lots of room for mischief': Expert slams new right-wing tactic for threatening election

Ahead of the 2024 election, Mark Cook has agreed to pack his suitcase and travel throughout his state of Arizona "for a mission he said he was called to by God," according to The Guardian.

He's "one of several quasi-disciples of Mike Lindell and other big-name election influencers who have been spreading the hand-count gospel around the country since 2020, when Donald Trump began claiming without evidence that ballot tabulating machines were rigged against him."

It is Cook's, and other right-wing activists', belief that "eliminating mail-in voting, counting all ballots cast at polling places on the night of the election and, most importantly, doing the counting by hand," will save future elections.

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The Guardian reports: "The push to hand-count ballots is ramping up, albeit with spotty success, as the 2024 election nears, according to a review by the Guardian and Votebeat.

"If more localities decide to try hand-counting in the November election, results could be inaccurate, untrustworthy or delayed, fostering more distrust in elections. In places that opt not to hand-count, supporters of the practice could use this choice as a reason to question or refuse to sign off on certification."

The news outlet emphasized, "Either way, it raises the risk of throwing the 2024 election into chaos."

American Oversight Executive Director Heather Sawyer told The Guardian that hand-counting ballots "just gives additional grounds for calling into question the results of elections when there are no valid grounds. There’s no good reason to do it. And there’s lots of room for mischief and problems."

Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson, according to the report, voted against switching to hand-counting, telling the Guardian, "He voted no on hand-counting because, along with the legal reasons, it would be expensive and error-prone, and it attempts to fix a non-existent problem."

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Johnson emphasized, "There is no upside to it."

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