Chaos could result as election deniers get 'another bite at the apple': report

More than a dozen Republicans who served as "fake electors" in 2020, including some who are facing criminal charges, are reportedly serving as official Donald Trump electors in battleground states this year, while another 16 electors from those states say president Joe Biden's election win was fraudulent.

Altogether, election deniers and fake electors make up more than a third of the 82 electors chosen this year to support the former president in the seven states where he tried to overturn his 2020 loss, and their involvement in this year's contest could lead to post-election chaos if Trump loses again, reported CNN.

“Those who participate in election fraud should be held accountable, not given another bite at the apple,” said Lindsey Miller, research director at the nonprofit election watchdog Informing Democracy.

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Six of the 15 GOP electors from Michigan acted as fake electors four years ago and are currently facing charges for their involvement in that scheme, while another six have claimed Biden's win was fraudulent, and more than a third of Pennsylvania’s 19 Republican electors either dispute Biden's 2020 election win or signed phony certificates after that contest.

"Unlike most other states Trump targeted in 2020 with fake electors, the certificates these Pennsylvania Republicans signed said they were only meeting in case a 'non-appealable court order' later determined Trump actually won," CNN reported. "This was added after some GOP electors raised last-minute concerns over the legality of the plan. Thanks to this hedged language, the 2020 fake electors in Pennsylvania weren’t charged."

At least five of Georgia's GOP electors are election deniers or have expressed their support for Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 loss in the state, while two of Nevada's electors served as phony electors that year, and at least one election denier will serve as one of Arizona’s 11 GOP electors this year.

Wisconsin's fake electors from 2020 agreed not to participate in this year's election as part of the settlement of a civil lawsuit brought by the state's legitimate Democratic electors, and while New Mexico wasn't a battleground state four years ago and isn't expected to be this year, a former state GOP chair participated in a fake elector plot there and will serve as a Trump elector this year.