Ric Grenell California voting group to FOIA voter rolls to expose allegedly outdated registrations

DALLAS – Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell told Fox News that his nonprofit Fix California plans to file public records requests to force elections boards to hand over data on their voter rolls so that the group can expose any areas where the rolls may be outdated. 

Grenell made the comments in an interview with Fox News ahead of his appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas. He said his group is playing the long game to make conservative Californians feel like they have a voice in the state. 

"What we've got to be able to do is let people know that their vote matters, that every vote counts, and we've got to get them more engaged," Grenell told Fox News. 

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"What we saw in this last election was really frightening," Grenell added. "It's one of the problems that we have is that the Democrat liberal left groups that run California have all demanded that people get a ballot regardless of whether or not they're still in the state. So the county voter registration offices are literally taking old voting rolls and sending ballots to every single person that's still on the voting rolls."

Grenell said the data being requested would allow Fix California to compare the state's rolls to its own "extensive data file."

This could reveal, Grenell said, "where state officials have failed their legal obligations to protect the voice and vote of Californians."

Grenell also addressed the ongoing California recall election, in which several high-profile Republicans are seeking to unseat Gov. Gavin Newsom. He dismissed polling that shows Newsom is likely to survive the recall effort. 

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"First of all I don't believe any polls that say people are satisfied with Gavin Newsome's leadership. I can tell you unequivocally the majority of Californians are not," Grenell said. 

"Now, that's not to say that the recall is a slam dunk. What we have to be able to do is remind people of Gavin Newsom's leadership," Grenell added. "Just today, for instance, Gavin Newsom has announced that we have to conserve more water because we have a drought. This is ridiculous. We live on the ocean. The last thing that Californians should be worried about is water."

Grenell also weighed in on what parents should do about critical race theory in classrooms, advocating for school choice that would make education essentially a free market. 

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"We've just spent a year where parents across the country and I can tell you parents in California have watched their kids be taught through Zoom school. And what that really meant is parents had a peek into the classroom. They're outraged as to what's being taught," Grenell said. "And parents of all stripes are literally trying to say 'how do we upend education. How do we make sure that it's not just government run schools. We have to have school choice."

Grenell said "schools should be competing against each other for students," rather than the status quo, in which "most people who can't afford it are forced to go to the crappy school down the street." 

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