Release the Kraken

[MAL]

I do not mean to interrupt with your cut and paste fest. You have spoken the truth in your own words. Has the transmission of the common flu gone down since the pandemic? Oh, Absolutely positively! Why? Because some people have been heeding the warning...They are two different things but why would wearing a mask in public places, in someway increase the incidence of the common flu?

Bur why has the flue been reduced to zero statistically speaking...world wide...for most of the year?

This chart is not believable.

https://twitter.com/covid_clarity/st...46343296098306

[MAL]

Here is an interesting video about Hunter Biden's laptop.

https://dailyheadlines.net/the-conte...3%20.net%205PM

[MAL]

Here is some interesting corona virus history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uZzoznjjKg

[MAL]

Wisconsin becomes the latest state to audit the fraudulent 2020 election.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Assembly has passed a resolution that will authorize an investigation into the 2020 presidential election that President Joe Biden narrowly stole in the state.

Democrats opposed the resolution.

Voting to authorize an investigation comes after Republicans last month ordered an audit of the election results.

[MAL]

Michigan poll worker trainer teaching poll workers how to cheat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-zMoiQhbcI

[MAL]

It's people like this that own Biden.

CCP Adviser Outlined Detailed Plan to Defeat US, Including Manipulating Elections


BY NICOLE HAO

March 26, 2021 Updated: March 26, 2021

biggersmaller
Print
A leading Chinese professor—who is also an adviser to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)—laid out a comprehensive plan for the communist regime to overthrow the United States as the world’s superpower.

The professor’s multi-pronged strategy involves a range of malign actions to subvert the United States while strengthening the Chinese regime. They include: interfering in U.S. elections, controlling the American market, cultivating global enemies to challenge the United States, stealing American technology, expanding Chinese territory, and influencing international organizations.

The plan was explained in detail by Jin Canrong, a professor and associate dean of the School of International Studies at Beijing’s Renmin University of China, in a July 2016 speech on “Sino-U.S. Strategic Philosophy” given over two full days at Southern Club Hotel Business Class in south China’s Guangzhou City.

“We want to be the world leader,” Jin said, explaining Chinese Leader Xi Jinping’s desire for a “national rejuvenation” of the country.

Dubbed “teacher of the state” by Chinese netizens, Jin is a prominent scholar known for his fiery anti-U.S. rhetoric. He is an advisor to two powerful bodies of the CCP, the Organization Department, and the United Front Work Department, though it is unclear how close he is to Xi.
The title screen of a propaganda program called “How Xi Jinping Led China’s COVID-19 Battle,” from the CGTN archive is seen as it plays on a computer monitor in London, England on Feb. 04, 2021. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)Weakening the United States


The strategy to topple the United States was composed of two broad components: weakening America through both internal and foreign sources; and strengthening the Chinese regime’s economic, military, and diplomatic power.

Using a metaphor of a company to illustrate the U.S.-China dynamic, Jin likened the United States to a company president, and China to a vice president who wants the top job.

“The United States is a middle-aged man, who is good looking, has strong capabilities, and support from most employees,” Jin said.

“[To replace it], we first need to create the conditions to make it easier for the United States to make mistakes. Second, we should make it as busy as possible [dealing with problems], to the extent that it will feel depressed and want to give up. Third, we should become intertwined with the United States, so that it can’t attack us.”

Jin said the CCP was thinking of many ways to weaken the United States, which he described as a “very difficult” task. The professor offered four practical tactics.
1. Manipulating Elections


Jin suggested that the CCP should interfere in U.S. elections to bring pro-Beijing candidates to power. He singled out races for seats in the House of Representatives as an easy target.

“The Chinese government wants to arrange Chinese investments in every single congressional district to control thousands of voters in each district,” Jin said.

He noted with a population (at the time) of about 312 million and 435 congressional districts, roughly 750,000 residents live in each district.

“The voting rate in the United States is about 30 percent, which means around 200,000 residents in each congressional district vote for the representative in that district,” Jin said. “Normally the difference of votes between two candidates is 10,000 or less. If China has thousands of votes on hand, China will be the boss of the candidates.”

Jin said China’s ambition is to control at least the House.

“The best scenario is China can buy the United States, and change the U.S. House of Representatives into the second Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress,” he said, referring to the committee that oversees the CCP’s rubber-stamp legislature.
2. Controlling the US Market

A container ship berthing at the port in Qingdao, in China’s eastern Shandong province on May 17, 2019. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
Ramping up Chinese investments in the United States is another way to exert influence in the country’s political system, Jin said, noting that this tactic has the added benefit of enriching Chinese business people and the CCP.

“The investment opportunities in the United States are relatively good,” he said. “The U.S. market is open—more open than the Japanese and European ones,” he continued, adding that its benefits include its size, transparency, and stability.

He said the Chinese regime wants Chinese business people to control the U.S. market, and also for them to develop their businesses in the country.

To reach this goal, the Chinese regime had tried to negotiate with Washington for the U.S.-China Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). The agreement was actively negotiated for the decade prior to 2017, but fell off the agenda during President Donald Trump’s administration.

Some U.S. companies wishing to enter the Chinese market, and the U.S.-China Business Council have advocated for the signing of a BIT.
3. Fostering Enemies of the US

Intercontinental ballistic missiles are launched by the Vladimir Monomakh nuclear submarine of the Russian navy from the Sera of Okhotsk, Russia, on Dec. 12, 2020. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
Jin said the CCP’s “strategic task” was to make sure the United States has not less than four enemies.

Four enemies are needed to stretch the United States’ resources while bogging the government down in domestic debates over which threat to prioritize, Jin said.

For instance, before WWII the United States had two adversaries, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. “The Americans debated over and over about who is the real threat,” he said.

“If the United States has four enemies, it will totally lose its direction.”

Analyzing the situation as of 2016, Jin concluded that the United States only has three adversaries: “Terrorism is definitely an enemy of the United States. Russia looks like another one … Definitely, the United States treats us as a competitor … It’s not enough.”

The professor said that in the past few years, the CCP had tried to develop Brazil into an adversary of the United States, but was unsuccessful because Brazil “didn’t want to be improved.”

He said the CCP had pumped a lot of investment into Brazil in the bid to get its support on global issues, including taking stances against the United States. Xi had visited Brazil in 2014 and agreed to invest in infrastructure in the country’s western region, as well as a railway to link ports in Brazil and Peru.

Jin said the Chinese regime has given up on this approach and is trying to find a candidate to develop into a U.S. adversary.
4. Causing International Problems for the US


Jin said the Chinese regime was at a strategic advantage due to the United States’ role as global enforcer: whenever there is a crisis in the world, the United States would have to intervene to maintain global stability, which in turn drains U.S. resources and diverts its attention away from China.

As examples, he cited the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, which he described as “completely not strategically valuable” endeavors that cost the United States “$6 trillion and 10,000 soldiers’ lives.”

The result was that the United States “wasted ten years [without being aware of China’s development], and let China grow big,” Jin said.

Another possible tactic is to sell the CCP’s holding of U.S. Treasury bonds to precipitate a debt crisis, he said. According to the U.S. Treasury, China currently holds nearly $1.1 trillion in U.S. treasury securities.

Finally, engaging in drawn-out negotiations with the United States is also an effective strategy to bog down the United States, while giving the regime the time to focus on developing itself, according to Jin. During such negotiations, the United States wouldn’t take punitive actions against the CCP such as sanctions, and instead focus its energy on preparing and carrying out the talks. Meanwhile, the Chinese regime, which has no intention of negotiating in good faith, would use the breathing space given to it over the course of the negotiations to solidify its power both inside and outside of China.

Former deputy national security advisor Matthew Pottinger in February warned of the CCP’s “negotiation traps.” Pottinger said years of successive formal dialogues between the two sides, such as the “Strategic Economic Dialogue” allowed the regime to “draw out the clock” and continue its economic assaults on the United States with impunity.
Strengthening the Chinese Regime

China’s first self-developed large passenger jetliner C919 is presented after it rolled off the production line at Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Co. in Shanghai, China on November 2, 2015. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
Jin said the Chinese regime has greatly relied on the U.S. trade and investments to spur its economic development over the past four decades. He highlighted four approaches to expand the CCP’s economic and political power at home and abroad.
1. Stealing US Technology


The professor admitted that the CCP has depended on stolen American technology to fuel its growth.

“China’s industry has a large output, but lacks certain technology,” Jin said. “In the past 30 years, we bought technology, 46 percent of which were from Germany. But the United States has the best technology, but it doesn’t sell to us.”

He added, “Americans think that Chinese hackers steal a lot of their things. This may very well be true.” Jin said key technology for China’s J-20 fighter jet and DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile was stolen from the United States.

The regime is also eager to get its hands on American space technology.

In June 2016, China’s Long March 7 rocket sent an orbital debris clean-up satellite Aolong-1 to space. Beijing claimed that Aolong-1 only brought space debris back to earth, but Jin suggested the satellite had another mission.

“The U.S. said that [Aolong-1] was collecting American satellites [from the space], and bringing them back to China,” Jin said. “We can disassemble [the American] satellites and reassemble them into Chinese ones.”
2. Expanding the Regime’s Territory


Jin believed that the Chinese regime would occupy the whole of the South China Sea and Taiwan in the near future.

The CCP lays claim to almost all of the South China Sea despite a 2016 ruling by an international court finding that its territorial claims were unlawful. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan also have competing claims in the waterways. Home to rich fishing grounds and potentially valuable natural resources, the South China Sea is also one of the world’s major shipping routes.
One of China’s man-made islands in the South China Sea, May 21, 2015. (U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters)
Beijing has sought to bolster its claims in the strategic waterways by building artificial islands in the area and building military outposts on them.

“In one and half years [in 2013 and 2014 under Xi’s administration], China has created more than 3,200 acres of territory. The other four claimant states have created only 100 acres in 45 years,” Jin said.

Jin predicted that the CCP would continue to create more features in the South China Sea.

He also boasted about the regime’s success in wresting control of the Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines in 2012 with the help of Chinese fishing boats and coast guard vessels.

“Even if the Philippines wants the United States to take over the reefs [in the South China Sea], the United States can’t guard them,” Jin said. “If the United States stations an aircraft carrier there, China can simply send 2,000 fishing boats and surround the carrier. Then the carrier doesn’t dare to fire at the fishing boats.”

In relation to Taiwan, the CCP has more ways to bring the democratic island under its control, Jin said. The regime views the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has vowed to bring Taiwan under its fold with force if necessary. For instance, the regime could bribe Taiwanese politicians, ban trade and tourism from China, convince the few remaining countries that recognize Taiwan diplomatically to switch to China, blocking Taiwan’s participation in international organizations and meetings, and assassinating some Taiwanese to instill fear among the population.
3. Building Global Influence By Leading Projects


Xi’s global strategy to bolster the regime’s global power has two pillars, according to Jin. One is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the other is the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).

BRI, previously known as One Belt One Road, is a massive global investment strategy launched by the CCP in 2013 aimed at bolstering its economic and political influence across Asia, Europe, Africa, and South America. The project involves investments in infrastructure and natural resource projects in countries. It has been criticized by the United States and other countries as an example of “debt trap” diplomacy, that saddles developing countries with unsustainable debt burdens while allowing the regime to export its technology and governance abroad.

“The ultimate purpose of BRI is to team up with the industrial power Germany. Then there’s no position of the United States in the world’s industrial playing field,” Jin said.

Similarly, Jin said the FTAAP, a proposed free trade agreement between 21 Asian-Pacific countries, would also open a conduit of influence for the CCP in the region.

The professor also believed that Chinese-backed development banks, the New Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, would work to Beijing’s advantage, as countries that received loans from the banks would then be beholden to the regime, Jin said.

“We are building up our friend’s circle in the world. We will be more powerful than the United States with more friends,” he said. “Then we can tell the United States that we are the only representative of the world.”
4. Influencing International Organizations


Jin also explained the CCP’s plan to exert greater influence over global bodies such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, Interpol, the International Monetary Fund, the International Olympic Committee, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Chinese regime’s goal is for “all these international organizations to be controlled by China. We can appoint someone who speaks Chinese [who represents China] to be its leaders,” Jin said.
Chinese candidate to head the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Qu Dongyu addresses FAO members and delegates during the plenary assembly for the election of the new FAO Director-General held at the FAO headquarters, in Rome on June 22, 2019. (Vincenzo Pinto/ AFP via Getty Images)
During his speech, Jin emphasized that Xi was unlike his predecessors in his ambitions. Previous CCP leaders, such as Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao worked hard to develop the regime’s power but didn’t dare to use it, he said.

“No matter how much power you have, it’s nothing if you don’t dare to use it,” Jin said. “Chairman Xi dares to use it. [Xi’s authorities] have the power, dare to use that power, and all of its attacks make the other party bleed.”

Xi’s ambitions, however, cannot be revealed to the outside world, the professor said.

When Xi took power in 2012, he urged the country to realize the “Chinese dream.” This meant becoming a “moderately well-off” country by 2021, and then a “strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious, and modern socialist country” by 2049.

Jin explained that Xi’s target is actually to replace the United States as the world’s only superpower by 2049.

“[Chinese] Ministry of Foreign Affairs keeps on saying [at press briefings] that China loves peace. But no reporters at the press briefings believe this,” Jin said.

[Fighting Scot]

Strongman Trumpist Republicans have blundered into a hornets’ nest when it comes to voting.

If you make it harder for people to vote, you can be sure that they will flock to the polls like never before. They will crawl across broken glass on Election Day. They will shove their votes down your obstructionist throat.

[MAL]

Strongman Trumpist Republicans have blundered into a hornets’ nest when it comes to voting.

If you make it harder for people to vote, you can be sure that they will flock to the polls like never before. They will crawl across broken glass on Election Day. They will shove their votes down your obstructionist throat.

That's better than the dead having to crawl out of their graves to vote. Most of the 350,000 dead individuals on voter rolls received a ballot in 2020...but there is no Democrat that hates Trump enough to cast an extra ballot?

Joe Schoffstall - SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 4:30 PM

"An election watchdog has found that there may be as many as 350,000 dead individuals on voter rolls across 42 states.

The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), an Indiana-based election integrity group, conducted a nationwide study to identify the hundreds of thousands of deceased individuals on voter rolls. During its analysis, the group also found that nearly 40,000 likely duplicate registrants "appear to have cast second votes in 2018 from the same address."

Just five states—New York, Texas, Michigan, Florida, and California—accounted for 51 percent of the total number of deceased individuals on voter rolls, according to the group. PILF further found that nearly 15,000 registrants were credited with voting after death in the 2016 and 2018 elections."

It is also better than having to crawl from Honduras to vote. In many if not most of the 50 states Illegals are signed up to vote with motor voter.

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times - Sunday, November 22, 2020

"A new study estimates that presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden benefited from thousands of illegal votes by noncitizens, providing President Trump’s backers with another potential argument for a fraud-tainted election.

The study comes from the nonprofit research institute Just Facts, and its president, James D. Agresti, who looked at election returns from seven battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

He compared U.S. Census numbers on noncitizens (a total of 21.7 million) with each battleground state’s demographics and election results. He then applied previous election polling of noncitizens.

The 2008-13 surveys show that a significant number of noncitizens register to vote and cast ballots, despite a federal law against it, and overwhelmingly vote for Democrats.

Based in New Jersey, Just Facts concluded that thousands of “extra” noncitizen votes went to Mr. Biden, enough to flip Arizona (plus 51,081) and Georgia (plus 54,950)"

[MAL]

Here is a cyber security expert that has been monitoring the 2020 election starting in July. Watch it before YouTube takes it down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bG_0FW0Mjo

[Fighting Scot]

All the right-wing propaganda on this thread conveys the same devious and poisonous message: Democrats and never-Trump Republicans are cheaters.

By amplifying this insidious and dangerous lie, strongman Trumpists continue their January 6 insurrection. They insist that the country belongs to them and them alone.

Labeling Democrats and never-Trump Republicans as cheaters opens the door for strongman Trumpists to pursue any number of damaging campaigns. What do you do with cheaters? You exclude them. You force them out. You marginalize them permanently. You put the squeeze on them. It starts at the ballot box and then it branches out from there. If the country belongs to you and you alone, anything can be justified.

The cheaters label is just the tip of the iceberg. We all know that the right-wing media calls Democrats and never-Trump Republicans very bad people, crazies, crazed, irrational, deranged, very sick people, corrupt, radical, lunatics, insane, hair-on-fire, unhinged, vicious, too dangerous to govern, despicable, etc.

This is the language that thuggish strongmen like Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban use against their political enemies. It is not the language that was used by Ronald Reagan and the old-school Republicans. This is something much more awful and poisonous.

When you see right-wing propaganda on this thread, recognize it for what it is: venom.

[MAL]

Col. Phillip Waldron - Part 2



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwm9ZF_7djA

[MAL]

All the right-wing propaganda on this thread conveys the same devious and poisonous message: Democrats and never-Trump Republicans are cheaters.

By amplifying this insidious and dangerous lie, strongman Trumpists continue their January 6 insurrection. They insist that the country belongs to them and them alone.

Labeling Democrats and never-Trump Republicans as cheaters opens the door for strongman Trumpists to pursue any number of damaging campaigns. What do you do with cheaters? You exclude them. You force them out. You marginalize them permanently. You put the squeeze on them. It starts at the ballot box and then it branches out from there. If the country belongs to you and you alone, anything can be justified.

The cheaters label is just the tip of the iceberg. We all know that the right-wing media calls Democrats and never-Trump Republicans very bad people, crazies, crazed, irrational, deranged, very sick people, corrupt, radical, lunatics, insane, hair-on-fire, unhinged, vicious, too dangerous to govern, despicable, etc.

This is the language that thuggish strongmen like Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban use against their political enemies. It is not the language that was used by Ronald Reagan and the old-school Republicans. This is something much more awful and poisonous.

When you see right-wing propaganda on this thread, recognize it for what it is: venom.

Venom? What would you call the way that Trump and his supporters have been treated?. The vile name calling is out of control. Political censorship is as bad as Communist China if you are a Conservative. There are countless videos of Trump supporters getting attacked for wearing a MAGA hat...a black Trump supporter was murdered just because he supported Trump. Democrat politicians and celebrities have incited violence against Trump and his supporters.

Not one of you even cares about the lie of Trump Russia Collusion even after it has been completely exposed a fabrication produced by the Clinton campaign and echoed in the media for 4 years...don't you feel like you have been lied to? The FBI knew it was fake, but they still ran with the investigation...framed Carter Page and Mike Flynn and probably George Papadopoulos as well.

How is it that BLM/ANTIFA riots and killings are not venomous?

When the Democrat Party is willing to fabricate an elaborate dossier story and use that fake story as the vehicle to remove Trump from office, then it is not much of a stretch to believe that they would cast a ballot or two for their loved ones that have passed away...especially when they know that they wont be checking signatures. Trump has been painted as the next Hitler so many times that there is no doubt that there are a lot of people that actually believe it...wouldn't you vote against Hitler as many times as you could if there was very little chance of getting caught?

Asking for transparency in the election results is not venomous...If you want peace between the parties, you should be asking for an audit to prove that Biden won in the middle of a Red wave election against an opponent that received more votes than any previous Presidential candidate in history...and that Biden some how won the most votes in the history of this country while winning the fewest counties by far.

"On Dec. 8, the think tank updated its report with new data. The updated report showed that Biden won 509 counties, while Trump won 2,547 counties. Results from 28 counties have still not been finalized, per Brookings Institution.

But according to the updated data, Biden won 16.7% of counties with finalized results. That represents a record-low proportion for a winning presidential candidate.

Obama set the previous record in 2012 – with 689 counties, equal to 22%. Before that, he also set a record in 2008 with just 28% of counties, per NBC News."


If any one of you could debunk any thing in this thread you would, but all I get is name calling and/or silence on what could be disputed facts.

[oldpioneer]

Well said FS! But wait, stop the presses. MAL, I admit, I have doubted you. But last night I saw a pillow salesman talking and realize I’ve been wrong all along!

[HuffHall]

Venom? What would you call the way that Trump and his supporters have been treated?. The vile name calling is out of control. Political censorship is as bad as Communist China if you are a Conservative. There are countless videos of Trump supporters getting attacked for wearing a MAGA hat...a black Trump supporter was murdered just because he supported Trump. Democrat politicians and celebrities have incited violence against Trump and his supporters.

Not one of you even cares about the lie of Trump Russia Collusion even after it has been completely exposed a fabrication produced by the Clinton campaign and echoed in the media for 4 years...don't you feel like you have been lied to? The FBI knew it was fake, but they still ran with the investigation...framed Carter Page and Mike Flynn and probably George Papadopoulos as well.

How is it that BLM/ANTIFA riots and killings are not venomous?

When the Democrat Party is willing to fabricate an elaborate dossier story and use that fake story as the vehicle to remove Trump from office, then it is not much of a stretch to believe that they would cast a ballot or two for their loved ones that have passed away...especially when they know that they wont be checking signatures. Trump has been painted as the next Hitler so many times that there is no doubt that there are a lot of people that actually believe it...wouldn't you vote against Hitler as many times as you could if there was very little chance of getting caught?

Asking for transparency in the election results is not venomous...If you want peace between the parties, you should be asking for an audit to prove that Biden won in the middle of a Red wave election against an opponent that received more votes than any previous Presidential candidate in history...and that Biden some how won the most votes in the history of this country while winning the fewest counties by far.

"On Dec. 8, the think tank updated its report with new data. The updated report showed that Biden won 509 counties, while Trump won 2,547 counties. Results from 28 counties have still not been finalized, per Brookings Institution.

But according to the updated data, Biden won 16.7% of counties with finalized results. That represents a record-low proportion for a winning presidential candidate.

Obama set the previous record in 2012 – with 689 counties, equal to 22%. Before that, he also set a record in 2008 with just 28% of counties, per NBC News."


If any one of you could debunk any thing in this thread you would, but all I get is name calling and/or silence on what could be disputed facts.

You're the only one who obsesses about Russia, never heard any of us say anything either way on the subject. It's always about "whataboutism" with you. No one lied to me because as I said before I take the left news and right news with a grain of salt. I'm smart enough to know both sides have agendas that's why I don't affiliate with either party. You on the other hand all you do is cherrypick media that fits your narrative then claim "Look I've proven this or disproved that, I've posted facts" when in reality you haven't done anything but show what a brainwashed simpleton you are.

[MAL]

This story may be venom, but that doesn't make it untrue.

Breaking: Audit Of Votes Finds Huge Fraud … Plenty To Flip The Election

By Steven Ahle

Montana just completed an audit and they found the strangest thing. 6.33% of all votes did not have an envelope and coincidentally those votes came from heavily Democratic districts.

By law, those votes should not be counted but they were. 4,592 out of the 72,491 mail-in ballots lacked envelopes.

In a small state such as Montana over 4,000 votes could make a lot of difference in a tight race and in local elections as well.

Rep. Brad Tschida, a Republican was approached by a group of voters. He then hired a lawyer, and that is when they asked to see all the votes and envelopes from the 2020 election, discovering all of the ballots without envelopes.

Poll workers said that some of the envelopes may have been counted twice in the heavily Democratic district. All states need to audit the election.

We keep finding Democratic votes are often over-counted

Via John Lott Jr. at Real Clear Investigations:

In November, the group approached state Rep. Brad Tschida, a Republican, to formally take up the issue. Tschida hired a lawyer involved in the group, Quentin Rhoades, to represent him in corresponding with Missoula County Elections Administrator Bradley Seaman, a Democratic appointee and a longtime supporter of progressive causes.

Seaman’s office complied with Tschida’s request for access to all of the county’s ballot envelopes, and on Jan. 4 a team of volunteers, overseen by Rhoades, conducted an audit with the assistance of the Missoula County Elections Office. The audit consisted of both a count and review of all ballot envelopes and comparing that to the number of officially recorded votes during the Nov. 3, 2020, general election.

Its conclusions were troubling: 4,592 out of the 72,491 mail-in ballots lacked envelopes— 6.33% of all votes. Without an officially printed envelope with registration information, a voter’s signature, and a postmark indicating whether it was cast on time, election officials cannot verify that a ballot is legitimate. It is against the law to count such votes.

What’s more, according to auditors, county employees claimed that during the post-election audit, some of the envelopes may have been double-counted, possibly indicating an even higher number of missing envelopes..