Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Russian agency: Russia will conduct a nuclear test if the US does
Al-Nakhalah: We are the rightful owners, and we must fight to retrieve our rights
Al-Nakhalah: The enemy and its allies must know that we can never surrender to their terms and diktats after all the sacrifices made
Al-Nakhalah: The prisoner exchange clause can be completed in the next few days, and thus we will have pulled the [explosion] fuse and removed the enemy's justifications for aggression
Al-Nakhalah: The Resistance has expressed its willingness to negotiate on the basis that there are items that can be dealt with positively, the first of which is the prisoner exchange item
Al-Nakhalah: Trump's plan entails the Palestinian people's declaration of complete surrender to the enemy
PIJ Secretary-General, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, in an address aired on Al Mayadeen: The Resistance is engaging in a fierce negotiating battle under the so-called Trump plan
Russian Federation Council approves joint military cooperation agreement with Cuba
Al-Nunu: Today, the lists of prisoners required to be released, the agreed-upon criteria and numbers, were exchanged
Al-Nunu from Sharm el-Sheikh: Negotiations focused on mechanisms for implementing an end to the war, the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, and the exchange of prisoners

US midterms: The new 'voting integrity' militias - Le Monde

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Le Monde
  • 5 Nov 2022 22:47
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

The columnist in Le Monde, Gille Paris, writes about the US midterm elections as seen from his "French perspective." How did he see them?

  • x
  • Signage directs voters to a ballot drop box for early voting outside of the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center ahead of the Arizona midterm elections in Phoenix, Arizona on November 3, 2022. PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP
    Signage directs voters to a ballot drop box for early voting outside of the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center ahead of the Arizona midterm elections in Phoenix, Arizona on November 3, 2022 (PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP)

In an article by the political columnist and former US correspondent, Gilles Paris, entitled "US midterms: The new 'voting integrity' militias", French newspaper Le Monde said that "Armed militias 'defending' the vote are the unexpected new element in the 2022 midterm elections."

The article wonders about what could possibly go wrong and adds that almost two years after the attack "against the US Capitol by a mob contesting the 2020 presidential election, a new player is trying to break into the midterms: armed militias claiming to protect the integrity of the vote."

Gilles Paris noted how dangerous this is, explaining that "It took a judge in Arizona, a ground zero for election denialism, to restate the obvious. Taking photos or videos of voters dropping their ballot at a voting box, posting information about them online, and openly carrying firearms and wearing body armor while patrolling around those voting places is more about intimidation than about protecting this civic duty (not to mention the fact that simply associating the words "firearms" and "polling station" makes any normal European brain go haywire)."

Paris talked about the lack of safety "when election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) warn among other things in an interim report that 'these partisan observers may use their position to unduly interfere in the process on election day.'"

"An OSCE report using this kind of tone generally refers to a country of the former Soviet bloc with still faltering democratic institutions," Paris noted, "not a self-proclaimed model of democracy like the United States."

"The group involved in the Arizona court case, Clean Elections USA, said it was 'hunting mules'", Paris adds, explaining "mules" and relating it to a controversial documentary, 2,000 Mules, that was directed by a conservative activist who was convicted in 2014 of illegal campaign contribution but pardoned by ex-US president Donald Trump in 2018.

Related News

Ansar Allah renew vow to support Gaza until 'Israel' halts its war

IMF head flags US budget, Europe Defense spending challenges

The documentary claimed that unnamed nonprofit organizations paid "mules," a slang term for smugglers, to illegally collect ballots in key swing states during the last presidential election.

Paris wrote that this "biased creation, laced with allegations of massive voter fraud that were subsequently proved to be false, is based on testimonies from groups that are on the front line today as well as a senior fellow from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank."

The documentary was an inspiration to Clean Election USA's founder, Melody Jennings, according to her claims.

"Clean Election USA is not the only group on the front line trying to 'defend' the integrity of the voting process. Led by Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who aided Donald Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election, the Election Integrity Network is also involved in assembling what it calls an  'army of citizens' to monitor elections," Paris wrote.

Another active voice led by election conspiracy theorists is True the Vote, he added, mentioning that its two leaders were imprisoned for not adhering to a court order to provide data "in a defamation lawsuit over some of the claims they made in 2,000 Mules."

Paris reminded that in 2020, right before the presidential election, Donald Trump Jr. made an appeal to "every able-bodied man and woman to join the army for Trump’s election security operation".

While his call to action was not successful then, "his expected army of poll watchers might show up this year in what could be a dress rehearsal for the 2024 presidential election," Paris noted.

The columnist concluded his article by saying that things "could turn ugly" as former Trump strategic adviser Stephen Bannon warned that 'we’re going to be there and enforce those rules, and we’ll challenge any vote, any ballot, and you’re going to have to live with it, OK? We don’t care if you don’t like it. We don’t care if you’re going to run around and light your hair on fire. That’s the way this is going to roll.'"

  • United States
  • armed groups
  • France
  • US midterm elections
  • Donald Trump

Most Read

Tucker Carlson speaks at a memorial for Charlie Kirk, Sunday, September 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (AP)

Tucker Carlson: Israeli officers gave orders on Iran inside Pentagon

  • Politics
  • 2 Oct 2025
A Hamas fighter in combat fatigues stands before the ceremony for the handover of Israeli captives to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, February 22, 2025 (AP)

Hamas responds to Trump plan, backs Gaza withdrawal, exchange

  • Politics
  • 3 Oct 2025
Mossad’s secret role in Aldo Moro’s 1978 murder revealed

Mossad’s secret role in Aldo Moro’s 1978 murder exposed

  • Politics
  • 5 Oct 2025
Al-Quds Brigades strike a command and control center north of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, in an undated screengrab from the al-Quds Brigades military media

Gaza resistance announces major operations against Israeli forces

  • Politics
  • 1 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Retired Israeli General Brik says Israel has reached point of no return.
Politics

Retired Israeli General Brik: 'Israel has reached point of no return'

Depleted by foreign wars, US seeks to re-arm for another confrontation
Politics

Depleted by foreign wars, US seeks to re-arm for another confrontation

Gaza’s newborns gasp for life as hospitals collapse amid Israeli war
Health

Gaza newborns gasp for life, share oxygen masks amid collapsed system

UK arms exports to 'Israel' reach record high despite ban calls
Politics

UK arms exports to 'Israel' reach record high despite ban calls

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS