Newly Surfaced Recording Reveals ALEC and GOP Election Attorneys Working with State Legislators to Question Validity of Election

American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) CEO Lisa Nelson told a room full of conservative activists that ALEC had been working with three GOP attorneys on “action items that legislators can take to question the validity of an election.” The comments were made during a strategy session about elections at the Council for National Policy.

Nelson told the group, “obviously we all want President Trump to win and win the national vote. But it's very clear from all the comments and all the suggestions up front that really when it comes down to is the states and the state legislators.” She added that they’ve been working with Former FEC Member and Heritage Foundation attorney Hans Von Spoksky, former Federal Election Commission member Brad Smith, and GOP attorney Cleta Mitchell “trying to identify what are those action items that legislators can take in their states.”

“They can write a letter to the secretary of state questioning the validity of an election and saying what did happen that night,” Nelson said. “So we are drafting a lot of those things. If you have ideas in that area, let us know and we'll get those to the state legislators and they can start to kind of exercise their political muscle in that area.”

Documented first reported ALEC created a working group in 2019, chaired by Mitchell and Arizona State Rep. Shawnna Bolick, which would address redistricting, ballot measures, and election law. The secretive group does not appear anywhere on ALEC’s website.

The comments are particularly concerning in light of reporting by the Atlantic, which revealed the Trump campaign had floating plans to “bypass election results and appoint loyal electors in battleground states where Republicans hold the legislative majority.”

In partnership with The Intercept, Documented previously reported other comments made the strategy session, including a presentation by Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of True the Vote, to recruit veterans and first responders to become poll watchers on Election Day.

CNP members hold several meetings a year where they hold sessions to strategize about their objectives ranging from preventing mail-in ballots to advancing the nominations of conservative federal judges. Documented has obtained 59 recordings from these meetings and can be viewed here.