Cochise County is close to hiring an election administrator who has repeatedly shared false allegations on Facebook about widespread election fraud, including claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against former President Donald Trump. I’m here.
Bob Bartelsmeyer, currently La Paz County elections officer, was selected by Cochise County Recorder David Stevens. County supervisors plan to appoint him at a meeting on Tuesday. Meeting agenda posted on county website.
“Join the post ‘Trump wins legally in a landslide'” 1 post shared According to Bartelsmeyer in December 2020, “Revealed: ‘Easy math’ shows Biden claims to have 13 million more votes than eligible voters cast in 2020.” read another.
In Cochise, Bartelsmeyer works in a county in southern Arizona where the Republican-controlled board of oversight is considering changes to elections in Republican-backed counties. and pursuing a potential plan to remove the county’s vote-counting machines for similar false claims of vote-switching.
Supervisor Ann English, the only Democrat on the board, told Votebeat that hiring Bartelsmeyer means no one will stand in the way of supervisors or Stevens trying to push for election change. said he was concerned.
“It’s certainly scary to think of someone coming in to take over an electoral system that has had no problems with the attitude that past elections weren’t fair,” English said.
When hiring Bartelsmeyer, the county is also choosing someone with decades of election administration experience. Mr. Bartelsmeier ran for or served in elections in counties in Mojave, Missouri, Florida, and New Mexico before being hired a year ago in La Paz, a rural county in western Arizona. I said I did.
Earlier this year, Cochise’s supervisor told Republican Recorder Stevens Those who also have doubts about the security of elections, More control over them, including oversight of election administrator positions.it was after them illegally tried to block He refused to certify Cochise County’s November election and attempted to advance a plan to illegally hand-count all ballots.
Many of Bob Bartelsmeier’s posts were marked as misinformation by Facebook, and some posts added a disclaimer, stating, “Election officials have strict rules regarding counting, processing and reporting ballots. ” reminded the reader.
The position is open after longtime election commissioner Lisa Mara resigned in January. She claimed she was slandered and harassed after she refused to go ahead with her illegal plan to raise her hand. had planned.
Asked on Monday whether he supported the overseer’s attempt to illegally hand-count all ballots and not authenticate elections, Bartelsmeyer indicated no.
“I believe we must follow state laws and election procedures when it comes to elections,” he wrote in an email.
Asked how supporting false allegations of election fraud in the 2020 elections would affect how the elections are conducted, Bartelsmeyer said that in 2020, “I am a private person, and especially the elections at that time.” I was free to express my beliefs from sources within the movement,” he wrote. “
But he went on to say that was no longer true. “As election administrators, one must be neutral and bipartisan, so personal opinions cannot be expressed in campaigns,” he wrote. “My mission is to provide superior voter service with integrity, transparency and accuracy in Cochise County.”
Nonetheless, he has publicly spoken out during his tenure in La Paz. Bartelsmeyer shared Breitbart’s post He said Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is voting ahead of his Democratic opponents, adding, “You’re going to be a girl!!” With thumbs up emoji.
From 2016 to 2021 he will Posted many post Although he supports Trump, it is unclear from publicly available information what office he held at the time. did not respond to a follow-up question asking
English said Tuesday afternoon that he had not been given any information about Bartelsmeier’s career ahead of Tuesday’s meeting. He stated that he had received everything and intended to support his adoption.
She believes his position in the 2020 election is “valid” and that despite his views, he can still be fair in his role. Noting that he shares his opinion publicly, he said he didn’t think this was different.
“I think he’ll be fine,” she said.
Stevens told Votebeat that he doesn’t believe ballot-counting machines are safe and that the county should discuss whether it’s best to count ballots by hand. Asked Monday about his recommendation to hire Bartelsmeier, he did not respond.
The first post about elections administrator jobs asked applicants to identify their political affiliation, according to Reuters. story at the Sierra Vista Herald. County officials said at the time that they had misunderstood state law and thought this was necessary, and would remove the question.
Bartelsmeyer told Votebeat that he believes the tallying machine is “99.9% accurate.” He said counties should follow state laws regarding hand counting the percentage of votes cast after an election.
However, in his 2020 post, bartelsmeyer spread false claims About Dominion Voting Systems, Maker of Election Equipment other false Former Trump Attorney Sidney Powell Claims About voter fraud rampant in six battleground states. One quote he shared wrongly stated that the 2020 case of voter fraud was “treasonous.”
Many of his posts were marked as misinformation by Facebook, and disclaimers were added to some posts, stating that “election officials have strict rules regarding counting, processing, and reporting votes.” reminded the reader.
“We must demand electoral integrity and transparency in the 2020 elections for America to survive as a democracy and for the America we know and love!!” Bartelsmeyer Posted December 6, 2020 director.
Bartelsmeyer disseminated false claims about election equipment manufacturer Dominion Voting Systems and other false claims by former Trump attorney Sidney Powell about widespread voter fraud in six battleground states. One quote he shared incorrectly stated that the cases of voter fraud that occurred in 2020 were “treasonous.”
Most of Bartelsmeyer’s experience comes from his 23 years as a county clerk in Lawrence County, Missouri. According to Parker Pioneer, La Paz County news agency. In 2010, he left suddenly According to an article in the local paper, he took the job less than a year later as election supervisor for Doña Ana County, New Mexico.
Bartelsmeyer was hired in La Paz, a rural county in western Arizona with about 11,000 registered voters. told Parker Pioneer He said the county already has ways to ensure election transparency and security and has “done a great job in conducting the election.”
He will serve a larger population in Cochise County, which has approximately 77,000 registered voters as of November. He told Votebeat that he wants the job because he’s “looking for new challenges with a serious effort to be a team player in the face of challenges with greater jurisdiction.”
“I want to make a difference and make a big contribution to the Cochise County Elections Authority,” he wrote.
Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who has backed the way Arizona conducted elections, declined to comment on Bartelsmeier’s past Facebook posts. The Fontes office supports election officials in conducting county elections.
At least six of Arizona’s 15 counties have recently resigned from their election commissions. Mr Fontes believes this high turnover rate is a direct cause of the attacks and harassment faced by the Trustees due to election misinformation like the one Mr Bartelsmeyer disseminated.
When Mara stepped down, Fontes appeared on national television to talk about her resignation and others, calling them an emergency due to the loss of experience.
“We need to end this nonsense,” Fontes said at the time. is needed.”
