The Republican National Committee faced 28 bomb threats and nearly 500 calls while Americans were casting their votes on November 4, according to officials. This incident highlights ongoing efforts to maintain election integrity.
Leading up to the 2025 election, the RNC has set up election integrity teams in Virginia and New Jersey, investing significant funds in the process. Prior to Election Day, they successfully recruited 964 poll workers in New Jersey, with 463 available on the actual day—this is more than double last year’s numbers.
“Ensuring election integrity is crucial, and the RNC is at the forefront of this effort. We are building a robust operation with our personnel, attorneys, and volunteers to hold everyone accountable,” stated RNC Chairman Joe Gruters.
He continued, saying, “In New Jersey and Virginia, our teams addressed numerous issues in real time, upholding voting security laws and making sure all valid votes were counted. While Democrats may aim to enable fraud, Republicans work to preserve trust in our elections.”
Thanks to an increase in local poll workers and volunteer attorneys, the RNC tackled 478 reports of voting issues on Election Day. These reports included confusion at polling sites, equipment failures, and concerns regarding voter check-in and accessibility.
According to the RNC’s election integrity official, they monitored bomb threats in 28 locations, impacting 37 precincts. They explained to callers how they would handle such threats as they emerged. Information regarding election integrity would be relayed immediately by on-site poll watchers, allowing officials to keep track of how long polling places were shut down.
“We aimed to continuously convey information to the right people so that we could efficiently communicate with elected officials, local law enforcement, and election registrars—anyone responsible for that specific site,” a party source shared.
“It’s not adversarial at all. It’s more of a genuine dialogue, ensuring we can collaborate and find solutions,” the official added.
In New Jersey, a lawsuit was initiated to stop the Bergen County Board of Elections from counting over 300 “naked” ballots, which lack the required inner envelopes. A judge ultimately agreed with the party, ruling that these ballots were against the law.
Since the end of a 1982 consent decree in 2018, Republicans have intensified efforts surrounding election integrity. The RNC has increasingly focused on this issue since 2022, setting up a distinct division for election integrity that allows for resource sharing across various departments.
As the party gears up for the 2024 election cycle, they aim to solidify their position and are optimistic about making noticeable strides in the upcoming election cycles in 2025 and 2026.
Previously, they had engaged 1,500 election judges in Pennsylvania and established a presence in California to closely monitor Proposition 50 concerning gerrymandering. In Wisconsin, efforts to recruit poll workers are still ongoing.
One official emphasized that, despite President Trump’s victory, the push for election integrity has not waned. Even as other divisions saw personnel leave for the administration, the election integrity team remained fully staffed.
“What we have at the RNC is a more stable workforce than other branches that are truly committed to enhancing election integrity operations,” the official stated, adding that everyone on the team has been involved in election integrity efforts during the previous election cycle.
