How Trump is Using Election Fraud Claims to Restrict Voting

Summary

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Podcast Summary

It Could Happen Here — May 18, 2026

Episode: How Trump is Using Election Fraud Claims to Restrict Voting
Hosts: Garrison Davis & James Stout

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Episode Overview

This episode explores how former President Trump’s persistent and largely unsubstantiated claims of election fraud are driving systemic efforts to restrict voting rights and reshape American elections. Garrison Davis and James Stout dissect recent voter fraud prosecutions, the push for access to state voter rolls and ballots by Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ), and the establishment of new databases that threaten to disenfranchise eligible voters—especially immigrants and minority communities.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trump's Ongoing Election Fraud Allegations and Government Response

• Trump’s Strategy: Despite winning the 2024 election, Trump persists with claims that both the 2020 and 2024 contests were tainted by fraud.
• DOJ & FBI Actions: Trump’s DOJ and surrogates like Kash Patel are using these claims to justify federal investigations, arrests, and litigation.

“We are going to be making arrest. And it’s coming, and I promise you, it’s coming soon.”
— Kash Patel on Fox News (04:20)

2. Scale and Substance of Recent "Voter Fraud" Cases

• Despite sweeping rhetoric, the actual number of prosecuted “fraudulent voters” is minuscule, with cases in New Jersey highlighted.
• Four individuals were recently prosecuted, all green card holders or naturalized citizens. Charges range from “voting by an alien” to “false statements in relation to naturalization” and “procurement of citizenship or naturalization unlawfully.”
• The ultimate goal appears to be denaturalization rather than actual prosecution for voting.
• Discussion of the N400 naturalization form, how minor errors or omissions serve as grounds for denaturalization and prosecution.

“Just for people who aren’t familiar with the scale of the United States… that’s not a statistically significant number when it comes to electoral outcomes. Generally, they are decided by several multiples of four.”
— James Stout (05:02)

• The vast majority of those prosecuted admitted to mistakes during interviews rather than being discovered through elaborate investigation.

3. Federal Push for State Voter Rolls & Ballots

• Trump’s DOJ has aggressively sought access to voter rolls in over 30 states, facing legal challenges and appeals, but with some states complying—primarily red states.
• DOJ justifies its requests by citing potential fraud, aiming to run voter rolls against the DHS SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) database.

“Our intention is to run this against DHS’s SAVE database.”
— DOJ Attorney Eric Neff (19:52)

• Concerns abound regarding:
  • Database accuracy: SAVE is noted as being far from perfect and prone to errors.
  • Misidentification Risks: Combining voter rolls and SAVE could wrongfully flag citizens as non-citizens—particularly within immigrant communities.
  • Chilling Effect: Fear among diaspora groups may dissuade legitimate citizens from registering to vote or applying for government benefits.

“This stuff is extremely dangerous for, for anyone. Right. Like you could be a citizen or a non citizen. The idea that they, they’re going to check you against like the list of legit Americans should really worry people.”
— James Stout (27:22)

4. Attempts to Centralize Citizenship Databases and Block Voting

• Trump’s executive order seeks to create “state citizenship lists”—centralized databases of eligible voters—and links SAVE with the passport database (despite many citizens lacking passports).
• The executive order also aims to block mail-in ballots for voters not on pre-approved lists, risking disenfranchisement, especially among minority groups.

5. Federal Seizures and Intimidation Tactics

• FBI raids in Fulton County, GA, and Maricopa County, AZ, have resulted in the seizure of ballots and records—targeting areas with high minority populations and histories of contentious results.
• Federal judges have allowed the DOJ to keep seized materials, even when procedures were questionable.
• The intimidating prosecution of election officials and raids are intended not only to hunt for fraud but also to scare officials and voters.

6. Disproportionate Impact and Broader Election Manipulation

• The show highlights how these “anti-fraud” efforts mainly serve to:
  • Dissuade and disenfranchise minority voters,
  • Undermine confidence in the electoral process,
  • Intimidate election officials,
  • Shift the focus from actual election interference (gerrymandering, voter suppression, Electoral College) to statistically insignificant “fraud” by individuals.

“Non-citizens voting is not statistically significant... but this will have a real electoral outcome... it will dissuade people who have become US citizens from voting. It will dissuade people who were born as US citizens...”
— James Stout (33:24)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On scale of “fraud”:
  “The actual number of voter fraud in this country is… minimal according to all investigations we’ve seen so far. Very low.”
  — Garrison Davis (32:54)

• On federal database risks:
  “No database of this scale... that’s just mathematically impossible.”
  — Garrison Davis (22:57), questioning the claim SAVE is 100% accurate

• On the goal of federal prosecutions:
  “It's interesting. They didn't charge maybe like, I guess they're like eyes on the prize trying to denaturalize someone.”
  — James Stout (15:27)

• On the chilling effect:
  “The idea that they’re going to check you against like the list of legit Americans should really worry people.”
  — James Stout (27:22)

• On real threats to democracy:
  “If you’re going to be concerned about election rigging, look at the way that partisan gerrymandering has been completely, completely allowed to go through...”
  — Garrison Davis (33:12)

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Segment Timestamps

• [02:39] Welcome & Overview of Trump’s “Election Fraud” Claims
• [03:41] Discussion Begins: 2020 & 2024 Fraud Allegations
• [04:20] Kash Patel’s Fox News Claims
• [05:02] Breakdown of the Four New Jersey Cases
• [08:14] New Jersey Prosecutions — Denaturalization Tactics
• [13:59] Other Individuals Prosecuted & Variation in Charges
• [17:52] DOJ Push for State Voter Rolls and Ballots
• [20:03] Technical Concerns with SAVE Database
• [26:01] Trump’s Executive Order & Centralized Citizenship Database
• [28:22] Federal Seizures in Georgia and Arizona
• [31:51] Personal Vendettas and Political Intimidation
• [32:56] Real Voting Threats: Gerrymandering & Suppression
• [33:42] Election Official Prosecutions as an Intimidation Tactic

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Conclusion

Summary:
The episode exposes how Trump’s DOJ uses the rhetoric of “election fraud” to justify actions that have little effect on actual fraud but significant impact on voting rights, citizenship security, and democratic participation. The hosts underscore that these measures—focusing on negligible non-citizen voting—pose much greater risks by chilling legitimate participation and intimidating officials, rather than securing elections.

Final notes:

• Upcoming coverage promised as 2026 midterms approach.
• Hosts encourage listening for further developments.

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For more:
Find show sources and related episodes at coolzonemedia.com.

Transcript

[Garrison Davis]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[James Stout]

Cool Zone Media.

[Garrison Davis]

Welcome to It Could Happen Here, a show about things falling apart. I'm Garrison Davis. Today I'm joined by James Stout. Hello.

[James Stout]

Hi, Gareth. I'm excited to see what's falling apart today.

[Garrison Davis]

Well, that's our elections, which have, as we all know, been rigged for as long as I can remember, which is kind of true considering when I was born, circa the year 2000.

[James Stout]

Yeah, the. The famous. The great and democratic election of the year 2000 in the United States.

[Garrison Davis]

The flawless election of 2000. Yeah. But no, we are going to be talking about Trump's continuing claims that the 2020 election was rigged and his investigation of election fraud in not just the 2020 election, but also the 2024 election, which, if you recall, was not rigged against Trump, considering Trump won that election, including the popular vote.

[James Stout]

Yeah, he won every. Every way you could slice that up.

[Garrison Davis]

A sweeping victory.

[James Stout]

Yeah, it was a fat L for the Democrats.

[Garrison Davis]

But a lot of the investigations into election fraud actually do revolve around the 2024 voter rolls, which we will discuss in a bit. But first, let's go back a few weeks on executive disorder. I reported that Cash Patel went on to Fox News a few weeks ago and announced that the FBI would soon be making arrests related to Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen, with Patel saying it was a conspiracy and, quote, they tried to thwart our elections and rig the entire system. We got all the evidence.

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[Garrison Davis]

Patel also claimed on Fox News, quote, we have the information to back President Trump's claims. About a week and a half later, the DOJ announced, quote, multiple aliens charged with illegally voting in federal elections. It's multiple, James. It's multiple.

[James Stout]

Multiple case, yes. What are we looking at? Three.

[Garrison Davis]

No, no. More than three. More than three. It was four. It was four.

[James Stout]

Okay. Just for people who aren't familiar with the scale of the United States, it's. That's not a statistically significant number when it comes to electoral outcomes. Generally, they are decided by several multiples of four.

[Garrison Davis]

Usually, yeah. Patel commented, quote, securing our elections from criminal actors here at home and around the world is one of the top priorities for this FBI. Non citizens voting is a federal crime, period. And while other administrations may have looked the other way in the past, those days are over. We will continue to work around the clock with our interagency partners to ensure those who engage in such conduct will not get away with it. So these arrests took place in New Jersey, and these, quote, unquote, multiple aliens were for permanent residents who registered to vote and cast ballots in at least one federal election before applying for naturalization via the N400.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

Now, the N400 form has a section where it asks if the applicant has ever registered to vote or has voted in a federal, state or local election. Three of the people charged in New Jersey checked no in the box asking if they had voted. The other left the box blank. But when later questioned by an immigration services officer at the USCIS interview, this applicant answered no, that they did not or have not voted.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

Now, interestingly, only two out of the four are actually charged with, quote, voting by an alien in a federal election.

[James Stout]

Okay.

[Garrison Davis]

Three are charged with false statements in relation to naturalization.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

And two are charged with procurement of citizenship or naturalization unlawfully.

[James Stout]

Yeah. Because I'm guessing the goal here would be to denaturalize them.

[Garrison Davis]

Right. For the people that were naturalized, that. That looks like that will. That will be part of what they do going forward.

[James Stout]

Yeah, I know I've reported on this in ED before, but like, large parts of USCIS have denaturalization targets. Right. In the same way that we've seen deportation targets for ICE and cbp. So, like, that will be the reason that those are the specific charges. Right. That is the easiest way to denaturalize someone. I was going to say the only way, but I think there are technically other ways. But like, the bulk of times you're going to see someone denaturalized, it's because they concealed. Previously it had been that they had concealed like, some loyalty to like, like a terrorist group. Right. Or perhaps there are bars for like communists and Nazis, like, like, with capital letters there. I'm not, I'm not talking about the political affiliation. I'm talking about, like being a member of a party with a party card there. I'm, I'm not talking about, like, the view necessarily.

[Garrison Davis]

Yeah, that's a whole other, like, tangent. There's, there's back and forth rulings. If you can really denaturalize someone for being a member of a communist party still, it depends what they mean by Communist party. Yeah, that's kind of like a vague term, but false statements in relation to naturalization, as in allegedly lying on the form by checking a box that conflicts with what the federal government is alleging is a much more clear cut route to denaturalization.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

One of the people charged is a green card holder from Liberia who immigrated as a refugee in 1998 named David Nowili. He's currently 73 years old. He allegedly registered to vote in New Jersey in 2003 and attested he was a US citizen. The complaint claims Noeli voted by mail in the 2020 general election and submitted a provisional ballot in person on November 5, 2024 for that general election next May. It's May 2025. Neweli submitted a N400 claiming he had never voted in the US but admitted to voting twice in the naturalization interview.

[James Stout]

Okay.

[Garrison Davis]

He is charged with voting by an alien in a federal election and false statements. Yeah, those are the charges he's facing.

[James Stout]

That's interesting because he, he like he seems to have clarified it in the interview, Right, Correct. I don't quite know how that works,

[Garrison Davis]

but like, yeah, he did admit in the interview that, that he, that he did vote, but they're still charging him with false statements based on the N400.

[James Stout]

That one will be interesting to follow because it gets, it could be pretty hard to stick the landing on that given that he. I mean, I guess technically what you put on the form is there's no take backs, I guess. But him using the interview to clarify it certainly seems like he's, he's trying to do what is in the spirit of the things asking him to do. Yeah, that would be an interesting one to follow.

[Garrison Davis]

This was also interesting because it shows the investigative capacity of the FBI.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

This guy admitted to that. Like he admitted to this in the USCIS interview. The FBI did not like crack the case.

[James Stout]

Yeah, yeah. Like, yeah, yeah, definitely. Like, yeah, he told, he told the cops he did it.

[Garrison Davis]

Yeah.

[James Stout]

When was his USCIS interview?

[Garrison Davis]

I'm not sure when the interview was. He submitted the N400 in May 2025.

[James Stout]

Okay.

[Garrison Davis]

So Trump 2 era could have been in late 2025. Yeah. This was at least within the last year.

[James Stout]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, some of those N400 taking forever now.

[Garrison Davis]

Totally.

[James Stout]

It's kind of interesting. But yeah, I'm just wondering to what extent previously. I don't actually know to what extent previously USCIS would like refer people for prosecution.

[Garrison Davis]

Yeah, that is, that is a good question.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait. No, here it is, here it is, here it is. August 2025 was when he was interviewed, according to the criminal complaint.

[James Stout]

Relatively fast turnaround. Yeah. I wonder if that's just a part of the country he's in or whether that was because like they wanted to get him in the office, right? And then either clarify or detain him because he had voted.

[Garrison Davis]

And then in October, USCIS denied the application due to unlawful acts of voting in the 2020 and 2024 elections and the false statement on the N400. Yeah, we will take an ad break here and then talk about the three other cases after these messages.

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Wasn't that delicious? So good.

[James Stout]

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I got it. No, I got it. Seriously, I assist.

[James Stout]

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[Garrison Davis]

Oh, don't be silly. You don't be silly.

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[Garrison Davis]

Okay. Rock, paper, scissors for it.

[James Stout]

Rock, paper, scissors, Shoot. No.

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[Garrison Davis]

All right, we are back. Aydin Koresh, 43 years old, is a green card holder who immigrated from Israel on a B2 visa in 2015. In 2021, Koresh allegedly registered to vote in New Jersey, asserting He was a US citizen and voted in person in the 2022 midterm election. Koresh later submitted an N400 in 2025, and based on his charges, I believe his citizenship was granted because he's charged with voting by an alien in a federal election and procurement of citizenship or naturalization unlawfully. A lot of these criminal complaints are quite short, around seven pages.

[James Stout]

Okay.

[Garrison Davis]

Jacinthic Zoom is a 70 year old green card holder who's lived in the US since 2000 after immigrating from Jamaica. She allegedly registered to vote in 2018 and voted by mail in the 2020 general election. She submitted an N400 in 2021 and was granted citizenship based on what the DOJ is calling false statements. She's charged with two counts of false statements in relation to naturalization.

[James Stout]

Two counts would be, I guess, registering to vote and voting.

[Garrison Davis]

She's, oddly enough, one of the ones who's not actually charged with voting in a federal election. She's just. She's just charged with two false statements. This is, I think one in the interview and the other on the N400.

[James Stout]

Oh, okay. Yeah. That can make sense to you? Yeah, yeah, I'm. It's interesting. They didn't charge maybe like, I guess they're like eyes on the prize trying to denaturalize someone.

[Garrison Davis]

Yeah, I mean, like a big part of the FBI's messaging in this is, you know, we found people who illegally voted, but half of the people here aren't actually charged with that. And I don't quite know why. Maybe it's theoretically possible those charges could be added later. But at least in the original criminal complaints issued when DOJ made This announcement, Exhume is not actually charged with voting even though, even though the criminal complaint says that she did. But it's not, it's not one of the charges.

[James Stout]

Yeah. The normal pattern with federal charges is, is to have a lot of charges and like most of these federal cases will end in plea bargains. Right. Because the exposure is so high. So, yeah, it's interesting that that's not there when normally the pattern is to put as much as you can in front of the person so that you end up with a plea bargain.

[Garrison Davis]

This last guy is also not charged with illegally voting in a federal election. Abena Dun vig is a 33 year old green card holder who immigrated from India in 2012. He's alleged to have registered to vote in 2016 and subsequently voted in person for the 2016 general election and then by mail in 2020. Vig later submitted an N400 in 2023, but he only faces one charge, procurement of citizenship or naturalization unlawfully. So again, a lot of these charges, even though the criminal complaints allege a lot of the same stuff, the actual charges vary greatly and it's, it is unclear why exactly that is.

[James Stout]

Yeah. Are they different? They're all in New Jersey.

[Garrison Davis]

All New Jersey.

[James Stout]

So same USA attorney. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's interesting. It'll be interesting to, to follow those cases as well. Like I know, like I said that they have some sort of denaturalization targets. So whether they're just focusing their energies on that, it could be the case. So it could be something to do with the specifics of that crime that I just don't know about. Of voting. We're not a citizen.

[Garrison Davis]

Yeah. There, there could be some prosecutorial reason that they aren't pursuing it in certain cases, but are in others.

[James Stout]

Yeah. And they're all alleged to have voted in federal elections. Right. That's the. Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

In, in, in at least one federal election. E general election or midterm general election.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

New Jersey does not have like local election voting for non citizens.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

A few days before Patel announced the imminent arrests on Fox News, the Department of justice sent a letter to the chief election official for Wayne County, Michigan, demanding Wayne county hand over all ballots from the 2024 election. The letter said the DOJ and its civil Rights Division is authorized to investigate and prosecute individuals who may have registered to vote or voted in violation of U.S. law. The letter included three instances of recorded allegations and convictions in Wayne county in quote, unquote, recent years related to voting fraud. This push by The DOJ to get their hands on ballots or voter rolls is part of a much larger pattern.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

In January, during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, one of the demands from now former Attorney General Pam Bondi negotiations with Governor Tim Walls was for the DOJ to be granted access to the state of Minnesota's voter rolls, quote, to confirm that Minnesota's voter registration practices comply with federal law, unquote. Trump's DOJ has actually sued over 30 states for not complying with requests to gain access to their voter rolls. Cases against Arizona, Massachusetts and Rhode island have been dismissed, as have cases in California, Michigan and Oregon, but the DOJ is appealing those rulings. At least 15 states have complied or said they will comply with requests by handing over voter registration lists, including driver's license and Social Security numbers. These are largely red states like Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. In a March hearing in the case against Rhode island to gain access to their voter rolls, Eric Neff, the Acting Chief of the Voting section of the Civil Rights division of the DoJ, said that after receiving the voter rolls, quote, our intention is to run this against DHS's save database, unquote. That's the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database. Yeah. Exchange. Do you want to briefly explain what this database is and how it's used?

[James Stout]

In very basic terms, it is a database. So you have like VERIFY Rate would be an example of a DHS database that employers can use to check if somebody is able to accept employment legally in the United States. Right. SAVE is there for government agencies, not individuals, and they should be able to determine whether or not somebody's eligible for certain benefits. Right. There are things called public charge rules. If people want a more in depth explanation of public charge rules, you can scroll all the way back to November 2024, before when I made a podcast about these things. We looked at a number of tools that the Trump administration might use to try and deport and denaturalize people. In a podcast episode back then, the problem with these databases is they're not very good. The most obvious and amusing examples of E Verify not being very good are when state agencies hire cops who DHS claims are not legally able to work in the United States. And then the state agencies point out that they used E verify, which is DHS's own tool for verifying. And then everyone gets quiet and wonders like, who screwed up here? Right? Because they have done their obligation. Right. Large employers have to use E Verify. The same is True, I imagine for save. Right, in that it is not a database which is perfect and so running one against the other. Also the phrase running here is doing a lot of work. Right? Like are they going to look for name matches? Are they going to look for Social Security number or driver's license matches? Certain non citizens will have what's called an ITIN on ssn. There are a lot of ways which this could go horribly wrong. There's a reason that these two databases are not normally combined. Not to mention the fact that this provides a really large disincentive for people, a signing up for benefits. Right. Which, which we've already seen just the rhetoric from, from the Trump administration in the campaign provided a disincentive for people accessing benefits, but also for people registering to vote. Right? Like, yeah, people who are of diaspora communities, whether or not they are citizens, will be concerned about this. Like, and that is not a, that is not an unconscious side effect, I'm sure. Right. That is something that they are extremely aware of as they go forward doing this.

[Garrison Davis]

The court raised concerns about SAVE and said that there's been reporting of people being falsely identified as non citizens in SAVE's database. But Eric Neff responded that according to the DHS, the accuracy rate of the SAVE database is 100%. So I'm sure that's fine.

[James Stout]

That's just no database of this scale.

[Garrison Davis]

No, that's just mathematically impossible. Like it's.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

99% and 100% are like vast, vastly different.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

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[Garrison Davis]

Wasn't that delicious? So good.

[James Stout]

Your bill, ladies.

[Garrison Davis]

I got it. No, I got it. Seriously, I insist.

[James Stout]

I insisted first.

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[Garrison Davis]

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[Garrison Davis]

Okay. Rock, paper, scissors for it.

[James Stout]

Rock, paper, scissors. Shoot.

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[James Stout]

It's worth noting that like in Trump's, one of his early executive orders, like spring of 25, the one about preserving the integrity of American elections, part of what he asked them to do there was to overhaul, save and make it like a single source citizenship verification database. Which it is not. And it is still not.

[Garrison Davis]

Yeah, there's that push from the executive order a few months ago to create like, state citizenship lists.

[James Stout]

Mm. Yeah. They've tried to go a number of ways about this. Right. They also, the fall of last year, they integrated save with the, with the passport database. I think most people will be aware that there are millions of American citizens who don't have passports, for instance. Right.

[Garrison Davis]

Yeah.

[James Stout]

They've added some other stuff. Right. But the idea here is, is to create like, it should worry everyone. Right. Like this is a citizenship database that they will then attempt to combine with their biometric databases. I'm sure. And we've seen this with like the, the, the name of the Android app is eluding me. Now there's an Android app that ICE officers have which is supposed to verify someone's status based on a facial recognition scan.

[Garrison Davis]

Yeah.

[James Stout]

We know this doesn't work because there was one, for example, one lady who was scanned twice. Each result returned a different identity.

[Garrison Davis]

Identity.

[James Stout]

Yeah. Neither of which was her. This stuff is extremely dangerous for, for anyone. Right. Like you could be a citizen or a non citizen. The idea that they, they're going to check you against like the list of legit Americans should really worry people.

[Garrison Davis]

Yeah. And unable to pass the SAVE act in Congress. Not to be confused with the same database, though they are slightly related.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

But unable to pass that in Congress. Trump signed the executive order last March attempting to force the postal service to not deliver mail in ballots if the voter on the ballot does not appear on this newly created list of pre approved voters using this state citizenship list.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

We'll see if that actually goes through. But that's, that's another example of them, you know, trying to, trying to use state citizenship lists to just crack down on the number of people that are able to vote.

[James Stout]

Yeah. We can all imagine that this will have different impacts across different demographics. Right. And that is very much not accidental.

[Garrison Davis]

The last thing for the voter rolls in Fulton County, Georgia, and Maricopa County, Arizona, the federal government has simply seized voting records. In Arizona, the FBI successfully subpoenaed 2020 election records from Maricopa County. And in Georgia, the FBI raided an election warehouse in January after dubiously obtaining a search warrant.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

Then on May 6, a federal judge ruled that the federal government can keep the 2020 election materials that were seized in that raid, even if, quote, the seizure in this case was certainly not perfect. Unquote.

[James Stout]

Yeah. Maricopa county is an interesting one. Right. Like, but I think it's part of a grand jury investigation. Yes. Yeah. I can remember at the time and the 2020 election, like Maricopa County's results being somehow contentious.

[Garrison Davis]

The state Senate did their own investigation

[James Stout]

into that, like several entities have. Right.

[Garrison Davis]

The details of that investigation is in part what was the target of the grand jury subpoena?

[James Stout]

Okay, not so much Maricopa county, but a number of Arizona counties were really important in the results of the 2020 election. Right. There was a massive effort for turnout. I personally know people in indigenous communities who literally traveled for the entire to vote. The indigenous turnout, especially indigenous women in Arizona, really did make a big difference in the 2020 election.

[Garrison Davis]

And Maricopa county is the like by population, the biggest county.

[James Stout]

Maricopa County's vast. A number of other like Arizona counties like outside of Maricopa were also really pivotal in the 2020 election. It's not surprising to see those ones being tied. Like it wasn't surprising to me at the time to see them being targeted, you know? Yeah. Maricopa is where Phoenix is. Just for people to put it on the map. Famous for having really great law enforcement over the years. Joe Arpaio was Maricopa county sheriff. Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

Oh, yes. Ah, last from the past.

[James Stout]

Not so far from. Isn't he like doing some running for office or something? I thought he was.

[Garrison Davis]

He was for a bit. I have not thought of Joe Arpire for a few years, though.

[James Stout]

What a life to lead. Yeah, it's been a while.

[Garrison Davis]

Wow.

[James Stout]

Joe pyre, born in 1932.

[Garrison Davis]

That's. That's wild.

[James Stout]

Yeah. He can't be even for the United States.

[Garrison Davis]

He's a little pushing our character A little.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

But no, Trump does continue to. To truth claims about Fulton county on his. On his account. A few nights ago, he put out a video of the election board. Video was edited to appear as if it was implying that there was voter fraud or that the elections were conducted improperly. And when that was not what the video was actually, actually showing. But yes, is truth a lot after the raid that. To watch out for the results of the. Of the Fulton county election raid. And now the federal judge is letting. Letting the feds keep the materials that they seized, even if it was in the judge's own words, certainly not perfect.

[James Stout]

Yeah. I think Fulton county plays a load bearing role in. In the. In Margaret's understanding of the 2020 election. Right.

[Garrison Davis]

Yeah. And Trump's own mind.

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[Garrison Davis]

That is where he got the mugshot taken. Right. Like this is like he is.

[James Stout]

Oh, I've forgotten about that.

[Garrison Davis]

Personal vendetta against Fulton County.

[James Stout]

Yes. Yeah. Yeah, that totally makes sense. Alpaia, by the way, did run for mayor of Fountain Hills in 2024.

[Garrison Davis]

Oh, my God.

[James Stout]

Yeah. Just eight years before his hundredth birthday. What a country.

[Garrison Davis]

Oh, that's incredible.

[James Stout]

He did. He received a whopping 1527 votes in the primary election. It's a thousand people who thought the best hope we have is someone who is approaching Sheriff Joe at nearly a century of age. Remarkable.

[Garrison Davis]

Well, with age comes wisdom.

[James Stout]

Yeah. Up to a point.

[Garrison Davis]

That does it for us today at a good half a year. We will keep a lookout for any more. Any more arrests by Patel who claims to have all the evidence he needs, even though the only arrest so far is just a handful of people from New Jersey. And then I think one other person from Pennsylvania.

[James Stout]

Yeah.

[Garrison Davis]

Was arrested like in March. Again because the actual number of voter fraud in this country is. It's minimal according to, according to all investigations we've seen so far. Very low.

[James Stout]

It's statistically insignificant.

[Garrison Davis]

Yeah. Yes, very low. To the point where it's statistically insignificant. I think if you're going to be concerned about election rigging, looking at the way that partisan gerrymandering has been completely, completely allowed to go through and gerrymandering over districts that were protected by the Voting Rights Act.

[James Stout]

Yeah. Look at what is polling places are. Look at the like the Electoral College exists to be in between the popular vote and the result of the. Of the election right there. There are many things which dist. The will of the people. Non citizens voting is not statistically significant in that. Like it's just not. But this will have a real electoral outcome or is I guess because it will dissuade people from voting. It will dissuade people who have become US Citizens from voting. It will dissuade people who were born as US Citizens and they could be

[Garrison Davis]

pursuing charges against election officials in some of these states. Like that is part of trying to seize these, these ballots and voter rolls. It's not just to charge the possibly four people who may have illegally voted by then trying to put some of the blame on election officials themselves. And yeah, and that is motive of intimidation is certainly part of the goal here. And that's written explicitly in some of these executive orders threatening charges against U.S. officials for allowing certain mail in votes to be. To be counted. Yeah. When the Trump administration claims that they should not be.

[James Stout]

Yeah. I think the like nascents of this whole thing is Trump's calls to, to electoral officials in Georgia. Right. Like the Fulton county. The whole. Yeah, fine spiral.

[Garrison Davis]

Find those votes.

[James Stout]

Yeah, yeah. That is where it all began.

[Garrison Davis]

So yeah, we'll keep up on this as it develops leading into the midterm election. But bye bye for now. Yeah.

[James Stout]

Vote early, vote often.

[Garrison Davis]

Vote early, vote often.

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[Cool Zone Media Announcer]

Here is a production of Cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from Cool Zone Media, Visit our website coolzonemedia.com or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts, you can now find sources for it could happen here listed directly in episode descriptions. Thanks for listening.

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[Martha Stewart]

That's innerbalance.com this is Martha Stewart from the Martha Stewart Podcast. Ever wonder how to make hosting look effortless? Here's a secret Getting ahead of the mess with new Reynolds Kitchens Countertop Prep Paper Just lightly wet the counter beforehand so the paper grips and stays in place. Then lay down the Reynolds Kitchen's countertop prep paper so drips and spills stay on the paper, not all over your kitchen counter. You can roll out dough, prep a party spread, or cook alongside family. When you're done, you cleanup is as simple as lifting the paper and revealing that clean counter underneath. Effortless. You can use it for cooking and baking, prep and even crafting, especially when you need extra working space. Because when the mess is already handled, you can focus on what matters the food, the people, and the moment. It may look effortless, but now you know. It's Reynolds Kitchens Countertop prep paper. Take a tip from me. Wet it, set it, prep it. Done. Make it easy. Make it with Reynolds Kitchens Countertop Prep paper, available now in the Reynolds Wrap aisle in Walmart, Target, Amazon, and Costco.

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[Garrison Davis]

plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail] this is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.