Pam Bondi Asked To Investigate 2024 Election Results

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has been asked by a Republican congressman to investigate “credible claims” that an elections service provider breached protocols during the 2024 election.

Representative Abe Hamadeh of Arizona requested an investigation into the handling of ballots by Arizona-based Runbeck Election Services in several western states, according to a news release from his office.

Newsweek has contacted the Department of Justice (DOJ) for comment via a contact form on its website as well as Hamadeh’s office and Runbeck Election Services via email.

Why It Matters

Hamadeh’s call for a federal investigation comes as election integrity remains a concern for voters and elected officials following the 2024 election, in which Republican former President Donald Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

The DOJ has taken action in recent weeks to address concerns about election integrity, including demanding election records dating to 2020 from Colorado. FBI Director Kash Patel said on Monday that he has shared documents with lawmakers that reportedly detail “alarming” though unsubstantiated allegations about potential Chinese interference in the 2020 election.

Meanwhile, a legal challenge questioning the accuracy of the 2024 election results in Rockland County, New York, is moving forward.

What To Know

In his letter to Bondi, Hamadeh pointed to what he said were credible reports that boxes of printed blank ballots from several states were improperly mixed with returned mail ballots that were in the process of being prepared for tabulation in Runbeck’s warehouse.

He did not provide any details about the origin of the allegations, which have not been confirmed.

He requested that the DOJ investigate the circumstances surrounding the mixing of the ballots at the warehouse, security measures that were in place to prevent such incidents and whether they were followed and the potential impact on the accuracy of election results in Arizona’s Maricopa County and elsewhere.

Hamadeh’s office also pointed to Patel’s turning over of documents about an alleged plan for China to mass-produce fake driver’s licenses and ship them to the U.S. to make fake mail-in ballots.

What People Are Saying

Representative Abe Hamadeh, in a statement: “This alarming situation raises serious questions about the security and integrity of the election process in Maricopa County and potentially beyond.

“The comingling of blank ballots with live ballots poses a significant risk to the accuracy and fairness of election results. It is crucial that we have confidence in the integrity of our elections, and any potential mishandling of ballots must be investigated to ensure that the will of the voters is accurately reflected.”

Costas Panagopoulos, a professor of political science at Northeastern University, previously told Newsweek: “Irregularities in elections should always be investigated, but the sources of such inconsistencies, which can include error or miscalculation, are not always nefarious. Mistakes can happen.”