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Miyares creates Election Integrity Unit: Goal to make it ‘hard to cheat’

Chris Graham
jason miyares
Jason Miyares. Photo courtesy Office of the Attorney General.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has created an Election Integrity Unit that almost certainly will be anything but.

“I pledged during the 2021 campaign to work to increase transparency and strengthen confidence in our state elections. It should be easy to vote, and hard to cheat. The Election Integrity Unit will work to help to restore confidence in our democratic process in the Commonwealth,” Miyares said in a statement last week announcing the unit.

This is your reminder that when somebody tells you what they’re going to do, believe them.

So-called “election integrity” is shorthand from the Trumper wing of the Republican Party for “election denial.”

Basically, elections are fair when Republicans win, but when Democrats win, well, Miyares actually used the word “cheat” in the press release quote there.

According to the presser, the unit “will provide legal advice to the Department of Elections, investigate and prosecute violations of Virginia election law, work with the election community throughout the year to ensure uniformity and legality in application of election laws, and work with law enforcement to ensure legality and purity in elections.”

The only issue with “election integrity” that appears to exist came to a head last week with the indictment of Prince William County’s former voter registrar, Michele White, on corruption charges, but we don’t have details on what has been alleged there because Miyares’ office hasn’t provided details.

We do know that Miyares’ office had Monique Miles, who claimed in a series of Facebook posts that Donald Trump had won the 2020 election, and praised the Jan. 6, 2021, rioters as patriots, assigned as a deputy attorney general overseeing election issues, before a Washington Post report led to her resignation earlier this year.

That’s in line with the “election integrity” we can expect from this AG.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].