For a whole host of maladies, sunlight is the best disinfectant. In the months following the 2020 election, millions of Americans continue to harbor suspicion that many of the ad hoc changes to election law — often without the input of the state legislature — as part of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic negatively impacted the integrity of their state’s election. For Arizonians, the 2020 election is one of the most contentious in recent memory. Much to the dismay of Democrats and their allies in the corporate media establishment, the Arizona legislature is taking the initiative to shine some sunlight into the 2020 election results in Maricopa County so that Arizonians can restore their confidence in the integrity of the state’s elections.

Since December, the Arizona Senate has been in court arguing for the right to election materials (including ballots, voting machines, and election information) in order to conduct an audit of the 2020 election in the state’s largest county: Maricopa County. Only recently did the court side with the legislature and require Maricopa County to comply with the request. If Maricopa County’s 2020 election results were without fraud, as they have claimed repeatedly, then the county should have no issue whatsoever with the legislature performing a full audit of the ballots and machines. Which makes Maricopa County’s behavior peculiar to say the least.

Arizona Senate President Karen Fann noted the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has “refused to allow us to perform the audit at their facilities… and has gone so far as to refusing to even answer simple questions such as, ‘How are the ballots sequestered?’” Fann reiterated the purpose of the audit is to “dispel our voters’ concerns or, if a problem is uncovered, we must fix the problems before the next election.” Something the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, Arizona Democrats, and the establishment media ought to support as well.

Fortunately for Arizonians who support transparent and fair elections, Fann and the Arizona Senate prevailed in court, found a location to conduct the audit, hired independent firms to assist in the recount, and have been conducting the forensic audit of 2.1 million ballots in Maricopa County.

Yesterday on Washington Watch, FRC President Tony Perkins interviewed Alex Kolodin, attorney for a firm leading the audit, about the audit’s scope. Those supportive of election integrity will be delighted to hear that Kolodin affirmed the audit will look at “every one of the major allegations made in litigation during the 2020 election cycle, and is actually checking to see was that allegation correct, was it not correct? And that’s why we call it a full forensic audit, because it actually does address all of those items…” So if, as the Left claims, there is no evidence of fraud is indeed true then they should welcome with open arms such an investigation into the county’s ballots and voting machines.

Kolodin noted the hand recount of the 2.1 million ballots in Maricopa County will take 20 days, so we will not know for sure what ailments, if any, plagued the county’s election system for a few weeks. But one thing is for sure: voters concerned about the integrity of our election system will be watching closely for any news from the audit. Should the audit turn up no instances of fraud, great! Voters in Arizona can be confident their vote counts. If the audit discovers fraud, then the legislature and governor can work together to address the issue/s so that voters can be confident their voices matter in the state’s election system.

Whether the forensic audit of the vote in Maricopa County turns up fraud or not, one thing remains constant: legislation such as HR1/S1 would do tremendous damage to the ability of states to ensure their elections are free from fraud. As the polling demonstrates, voters support efforts to improve election integrity, like requiring voters to provide identification to vote, and overwhelmingly share concerns about ballot harvesting, inaccurate voter files, remote ballot drop boxes, universal mail-in voting, and ensuring only U.S.-citizens can vote — all popular reforms H.R.1/S.1 would make illegal under federal law.

The bottom-line is this: voters concerned about the integrity of future elections should support the Arizona audit of Maricopa County’s election system. The worst thing that could happen would not be that the audit turns up no evidence of fraud, but rather that the audit doesn’t complete its work. When a statewide election is decided by three-tenths of a percentage point, as Arizona was, Republicans and Democrats ought to agree: a dose of sunlight and transparency are the best remedies to ensure every Arizonian can have confidence in their elected government.

Concerned voters should pay no attention to media attacks, Leftist smears, and mischaracterizations of the audit and its supporters. Fairness and transparency in our election process are too important to surrender. The Arizona Senate was not kidding when they said they wanted transparency in the process, they even set up a livestream so anyone can monitor the audit from the comfort of their home. If you would like to watch the audit in real-time click here.

Originally published here.

Kerrying Favor with the Ayatollahs

In an audio recording leaked to a London-based news channel, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif explains that he learned of “at least” 200 Israeli attacks on Iranian targets in Syria, not from security personnel in his own government, but from former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. As Obama’s top U.S. diplomat, Kerry who inked the agreement whereby we subsidized Iran’s sponsorship of global terror and they pretended not to illegally advance their nuclear weapons program. Kerry continued to meet with Zarif even after he lost his official role. You might recall that during the same time (mid-2018), the media was busy pointing out that U.S. law prohibits private citizens from communicating with foreign governments, not as it applied to John Kerry, but as a way to persecute former Trump associates.

John Kerry, of course, denied it, tweeting that the “allegations are unequivocally false.” But Jim Geraghty demonstrated in the National Review there are plenty of reasons to believe them. Zarif and Kerry had a special relationship some even called a “friendship.” In context, Zarif was criticizing his own government, not Kerry, in an interview that was never intended to reach the media. In all likelihood, the audio was leaked to harm Zarif amid an internal Iranian squabble, and Kerry was merely collateral damage barely noticed by the New York Times.

The real question is, as Liberty Business School Dean Dave Brat said, “What’s Kerry really up to?” It seems obvious that he spilled state secrets of one of our closest allies to one of our greatest adversaries. It almost sounds as if he is working as a foreign agent against America’s interests. There is a “new alignment,” Brat explained. This new alignment pits “global elites versus the American people,” or the people of any other country. So we can be sure Kerry is “carrying out the will of the global elites.”

It all comes down to worldview, said Brat. The global elites have forsaken the Judeo-Christian tradition, and Greek reason, that made the West great. “The alignment of those two sensibilities, the Judeo-Christian religious tradition and Greek reason, have been the guard rails for Western civilization for two thousand years. And they served us well.” Brat continued, “the Judeo-Christian tradition is alive and well in Israel.” As the elites work out their anti-Christian worldview, they will inevitably target Israel. “The left is deconstructing the power of the West,” said Brat. “If you want to tear down the west, you go after Israel.”

Israel will be just fine, in the long run. Living on the verge of extinction has taught them to be tough. Though they may be very reluctant to share sensitive intelligence with the U.S. government after this revelation. In fact, they could teach Christians a thing or two about perseverance in the face of opposition. Brat added, “we have to learn to act a little bit more like Israel. The Christian church has become weak. If you ask Christians what foreign policy is, what are our interests, where we align, [they’ll respond] why does it matter?”

It matters because when Christians are uninformed and disengaged, society regresses towards barbarism. A former top diplomat is caught sharing sensitive intelligence with our adversaries. But will there be consequences? Not in a country where the law is despised and our heritage is hated. A sitting congressman was romantically involved with a Chinese spy, and he is still sitting on the House Intelligence Committee. “This is why elections matter,” said Brat. If Christians don’t engage, they’ll be forced to live with the consequences.

Originally published here.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.