A group supporting Donald Trump that has already initiated lawsuits in multiple key states to contest voter registration records is gearing up to take legal action regarding this year’s election outcomes, as revealed by one of its founders to YSL News.

“We feel it’s our duty to take action to protect this wonderful country,” stated Marly Hornik, who helped establish United Sovereign Americans in 2023. “We have already received indications of mistakes within the election process.”

The organization, which claims to be nonpartisan, often employs Bruce Castor, the attorney who represented former President Donald Trump during his impeachment trial following the January 6 Capitol riot.

The lawsuits from both this organization and various Republican groups allege that significant voter fraud may be occurring, yet they have not substantiated these claims with evidence.

These assertions play into the unfounded narrative pushed by Trump, who continues to argue that he did not lose the 2020 election, prompting concerns that similar claims of election wrongdoing will emerge if he loses again. Extensive counting and audits confirmed President Joe Biden’s victory in the last presidential election, with over 60 lawsuits filed by Trump supporters largely dismissed.

“Those attempting to disrupt the election are trying to proliferate a false narrative suggesting there’s cause for alarm regarding the electoral process. In reality, there isn’t,” said Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University who focuses on electoral matters, in an interview with YSL News.

Hornik indicated that the organization plans to pursue independent audits of the 2024 election. They need to file lawsuits prior to the official certification of election results, ideally after a state has declared results or when media outlets have made announcements, she noted. The organization is contemplating filing sooner, though they’re uncertain if the courts would consider a lawsuit premature if filed before results are available.

“They keep claiming success in the audits,” she remarked, referring to previous election reviews. “Yet, in every other industry, external audits are standard practice. That’s how the truth gets uncovered.”

Lawsuits Already Initiated

United Sovereign Americans has already brought legal action against election officials in nine different states this year, claiming significant inaccuracies in voter registration data that they argue could point to fraud.

In a lawsuit in Pennsylvania, for example, the group asserts there are almost 3.2 million discrepancies out of approximately 8.8 million total voter registrations, which they argue undermines the credibility of the state’s 2022 midterm election outcomes. Alleged issues include “illogical voting histories” and “suspicious” registrant addresses, which the group claims violate federal laws such as the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act.

Legal representatives for the Pennsylvania secretary stated that the group’s concerns over paperwork dates are “totally unfounded and irrelevant” under the National Voter Registration Act, which is designed to protect voting rights, not hinder them.

Furthermore, they argued that the Help America Vote Act primarily concerns the standards for the operation of voting machines, not voter registration protocols.

“Every state has informed us that these are merely clerical mistakes,” Hornik remarked to YSL News.

Creating Suspicion Around U.S. Elections?

The lawsuits brought by United Sovereign Americans are part of a broader trend of legal challenges to state voter rolls, including numerous lawsuits from the Republican National Committee and various state Republican parties.

These legal actions, many of which have been dismissed, continue despite the absence of evidence supporting claims of large-scale voter fraud.

An analysis by the Associated Press of alleged voter fraud in six battleground states contested by Trump in 2020—Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—found fewer than 475 incidents out of 25.5 million votes cast. None of these cases swayed the election results, as Biden prevailed in each of those states by margins exceeding 10,000 votes and by a total of 311,257 votes collectively.

Bill Barr, Trump’s former attorney general, stated in December 2020 that the Justice Department found no evidence of fraud that would alter election results.

A study conducted by the Brennan Center for Justice regarding the 2016 election unearthed merely 30 instances of suspected non-citizen voting that were referred for further investigation or prosecution across 42 jurisdictions covering 23.5 million votes.

The persistent failures of these legal initiatives and the lack of concrete evidence for widespread fraud prompt questions about the rationale behind these lawsuits, particularly as many are filed close to elections.

“The natural inference is they’re looking to lay the groundwork for asserting that an election was stolen,” asserted David Becker, executive director of the non-profit Center for Election Innovation & Research, which collaborates with both Republican and Democratic election officials to bolster public trust in the electoral process.

“Continued rhetoric raises the risk of leading a substantial segment of the American populace to mistakenly believe they cannot trust elections,” Levitt warned.

Recent lawsuits have raised questions about the integrity of elections, pointing to existing issues within the election systems, despite the fact that these cases have not yet succeeded in court. Most of these legal actions were initiated in August or September. A previous lawsuit against Maryland officials, filed in March, was dismissed in May and is currently under appeal.

What might post-election lawsuits entail?

According to Hornik, the group’s concerns prior to the election have influenced their intent to pursue lawsuits for audits not performed by state officials.

“We’ve seen that none of these problems have been addressed. Our worries were brushed aside,” Hornik stated. “So, there’s no valid reason to trust the process more than we did before.”

However, some of the issues raised might differ from previous lawsuits.

The United Sovereign Americans group sued Texas officials in late August, echoing similar claims made in Pennsylvania about widespread inaccuracies in voter registration records.

During a call with YSL News, Hornik highlighted a different concern regarding Texas, alleging that early votes are being cast using “machines that didn’t pass their certification tests.” She claimed that Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson, appointed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott, “issued a waiver” permitting the use of these faulty machines.

This assertion was disputed by Alicia Phillips Pierce, a spokesperson for Nelson, who stated in an email to YSL News, “All machines utilized in Texas comply with certification standards. No waivers have been granted.”

Lawsuits may hinge on the outcome

Hornik expressed intentions to file lawsuits even if Trump secures victory in a state.

“Our focus isn’t solely on one candidate. There are 435 congressional seats that are either up for re-election or newly contested within a few weeks,” Hornik noted.

Nonetheless, she refrained from confirming whether lawsuits would be launched regardless of the election result.

“That truly depends on our available resources, and we will strive to protect as much of the election process as possible for the American public,” Hornik mentioned.

In addition to cases in Pennsylvania, Texas, and Maryland, the United Sovereign Americans has also taken legal action this year regarding voter registrations in Georgia, Michigan, Colorado, North Carolina, Florida, and Ohio.

‘We don’t want another Maricopa fiasco’

Following the 2020 election, Trump propagated false information about the election outcome in Phoenix’s Maricopa County, including claims that an election-related database had been erased. A Republican-conducted audit that took several months confirmed President Joe Biden’s victory in the county.

Nonetheless, the turmoil in the aftermath of that election in Maricopa County and across the nation has led to unmatched security initiatives for elections. These include bulletproof glass, surveillance cameras, panic buttons, and de-escalation training for election staff.

Hornik asserted that the United Sovereign Americans is not intent on creating chaos after this year’s election.

“No one wants to witness another Maricopa fiasco, as I refer to it,” Hornik told YSL News.

However, they may require voters to verify their identity or rectify any clerical errors before their votes can be counted.

“You need to identify all the discrepancies. If those individuals wish to vote, they can do so provisionally. They come forward, present ID, and confirm, ‘Yes, I am here; here’s my address,'” she explained.