Election Administration

Bill Barr

person

Bill Barr served as Trump's Attorney General and was widely seen as a loyalist. However, in December 2020, Barr publicly stated that the DOJ had "not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election." This directly contradicted Trump's claims and led to Barr's resignation. His statement was significant because it came from within Trump's own administration, undermining the narrative of a stolen election.

Brad Raffensperger

person

Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's Republican Secretary of State, oversaw the 2020 election in Georgia including three recounts that confirmed Biden's victory. In a January 2, 2021 phone call, Trump pressured Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes" — one more than Biden's margin. Raffensperger refused, telling Trump his claims were wrong, and later released the recording. The call became key evidence in Trump's Georgia indictment. Raffensperger received death threats for upholding the election results.

Dominion Voting Systems

organization

Dominion Voting Systems is a voting technology company that became the central target of debunked conspiracy theories alleging its machines were rigged to flip votes from Trump to Biden. Multiple audits, recounts, and forensic examinations confirmed Dominion machines worked accurately. The company filed defamation lawsuits against Fox News ($787.5M settlement), Giuliani, Powell, Lindell, OAN, and Newsmax, winning or settling for massive sums and vindicating its technology.

Fulton County, Georgia became a central focus of efforts to overturn the 2020 election. It is the location of the Raffensperger phone call pressure, the false accusations against election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, and the RICO case brought by DA Fani Willis against Trump and 18 co-defendants.

John Poulos is the CEO of Dominion Voting Systems, whose company became the target of debunked conspiracy theories claiming its machines were designed to flip votes from Trump to Biden. Under Poulos's leadership, Dominion filed multiple defamation lawsuits against those who spread false claims, including Fox News (settled for $787.5 million), Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Mike Lindell. Every audit and investigation confirmed Dominion machines functioned properly.

Maricopa County, Arizona was the site of the controversial Cyber Ninjas "audit" of 2.1 million ballots from the 2020 election. Despite conspiracy theories about the county's election procedures, the audit confirmed Biden's victory and found he actually gained votes. The county's Republican-led Board of Supervisors defended the integrity of their elections against attacks from within their own party.

Mike Pence

person

Vice President Mike Pence was pressured by Trump and John Eastman to reject certified Electoral College votes during the January 6 congressional certification. Pence consulted with constitutional scholars and former Vice President Dan Quayle, concluding he had no authority to reject electors. He certified the results despite threats from the Capitol mob, some of whom chanted "Hang Mike Pence." Pence later stated that Trump was "wrong" to claim he had the power to overturn the election.

Ruby Freeman was a temporary election worker in Fulton County, Georgia, who was falsely accused by Trump, Giuliani, and others of pulling "suitcases" of fraudulent ballots from under a table during vote counting. Multiple investigations, including by the GBI, confirmed the "suitcases" were standard ballot containers and the counting was legitimate. Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss received death threats and harassment. Giuliani was found liable for defaming them and ordered to pay $148 million.

Shaye Moss, a Fulton County election worker and daughter of Ruby Freeman, was targeted alongside her mother by false accusations of election fraud. Her emotional testimony before the January 6 Committee detailed the death threats, racist harassment, and life-altering fear she experienced after being publicly named by Trump and Giuliani. Moss's testimony was considered some of the most powerful of the committee's hearings, putting a human face on the consequences of election disinformation.