The Linn County Auditor’s office published a tweet today that raised some eyebrows.
“Since the Insurrection, 158 voters changed their party affiliation from Republican to another party. 14 voters changed their party to Republican.”
The language of the tweet struck me. It wasn’t simply providing facts and figures. If it were simply providing facts and figures it would’ve read:
“Since Jan. 6, 158 voters changed their party affiliation from Republican to another party. 14 voters changed their party to Republican.”
Using the phrase “the insurrection” is using the language of the Left.
I was at the Capitol on Jan. 6. I wouldn’t call it an “insurrection.”
Not even close.
An “insurrection” is a “violent uprising against an authority or government.”
There were tens of thousands if not over 100,000 Americans at the Capitol that day. Somewhere around 1,000 actually went into the Capitol. And not all who entered the Capitol did so violently — at all. In fact, I would say most who entered the Capitol did not do so “violently.”
Semantics aside, I asked Eric in the Linn County Auditor’s office why that term was used in the tweet.
“I think the newspapers have defined that,” he said.
I also asked why the Linn County Auditor’s office bothered to publish the tweet. The auditor’s office is tasked with maintaining voter registration information and executing elections, but should be as non-partisan as possible.
Since Election Day, the Linn Co. Elections Twitter account has tweeted five times. Two of those were this morning about the “insurrection” and one voter requesting to be removed from the voter registration rolls completely. More on that one request later.
Eric told me that he put out today’s tweet because the office has been asked the number and the office is also curious about stats from the other counties. People will look at the data, eventually, and ask what the outlier was and why the sudden change.
The implication of today’s tweet is that 158 voters changed their party affiliation from GOP to another party because of the so-called insurrection. It has a certain negative connotation for President Donald J. Trump.
But what might surprise many in the Linn County Auditor’s office, is just because Republicans are leaving the GOP, it doesn’t mean they’re doing so out of anger or frustration with President Trump.
Based on what we’ve heard from Iowans across the state, it’s more likely they’re abandoning the GOP because the GOP abandoned President Trump on Jan. 6.
The truth is the Linn County Auditor’s office has no idea why anyone changed their registration. Well, they have an idea why one person did — the one who asked to be taken off the voter rolls completely.
“They don’t have to give a reason,” Eric said. “The one person who canceled their registration said they’re sick of the corrupted federal government.”
Yeah, that doesn’t exactly sound like an anti-Trumper. It sounds like one of the many Iowans who are fed up with a Republican Party that failed to defend the President and call for a 10-day audit of the vote.
I asked Eric if he meant that the voter registration changes have happened since Jan. 6. And I mentioned couldn’t it also have said since Congress voted to certify the Electoral College results, Republicans have defected?
“It all happened on the same day,” he said. “I have used (the insurrection) because that’s what I see the media using and newspapers.”
Which begs the question — what does the term “the insurrection” mean to the author of the tweet from the official Twitter account of the Linn County Auditor’s office?
“I don’t want to go into that because that’s my personal opinion,” Eric said.
Ultimately, Eric said he wrote the tweet because Joel Miller, the Linn County Auditor, asked how many people had changed their registrations.
At this point, Eric said he’d rather I talk with Miller because he wasn’t supposed to talk with the media.
***UPDATE: Since our phone call with the Linn County Auditor’s office, auditor Joel Miller commented on the original tweet with the definition of the word insurrection — “an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government.”***
