USE YOUR VOICE

President Trump continues to suffer losses as the head of the General Services Administration finally began the formal start of the transition, more Republican leaders acknowledge Biden’s win, and leaders from the business community along with more than 100 Republican former national security officials call for an orderly transition.

Notably our Senators—Enzi and Barrasso—maintain their complicit silence. Their silence condones the actions of a president who called the 2016 election “rigged” before we voted, who maintains he actually won the 2016 popular vote because millions voted illegally, who started undermining the 2020 results months ago, and who now refuses to concede. Their silence gives credence to baseless claims accusing millions of Americans of voter fraud, a criminal act. Their silence accepts a new normal of contested elections justified by the dangerous idea that if your side loses something nefarious happened. Their silence does nothing to dispel the mistaken belief of millions of Americans that the election was stolen.

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OUR LEGISLATORS NEED TO HEAR FROM THEIR CONSTITUENTS

Personal messages and stories are best
As always, be thoughtful and respectful.

Senator Mike Enzi:
DC: (888) 250-1879
WY: (307) 261-6572
www.enzi.senate.gov

Senator John Barrasso:
DC: (202) 224-6441
WY: (307) 856-6642
www.barrasso.senate.gov

Rep. Liz Cheney:
DC: (202) 225-2311
WY: (307) 772-2595
www.cheney.house.gov

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Stand for democracy.

The Wyoming Rising Leadership Team recently sent Senators Enzi and Barrasso a letter written by Co-chair Ronn Smith. On November 20, Representative Cheney issued a statement for which we thanked her. Although we certainly wish her remarks did not continue to normalize the idea that election results should be contested, we commend her for acknowledging that evidence does matter; that the Trump campaign has failed to produce any; and that the integrity of the electoral process is sacrosanct. 

November 21, 2020
Dear Senator,

Wyoming Rising is a nonprofit advocacy organization in Park County, with a hundred members and several hundred followers. We are writing to urge you to speak out in support of an orderly transfer of presidential power and in opposition to the ongoing delays and denials. Three Senate Republicans have publicly criticized President Trump’s effort to overturn election results in states that he lost. Senator Mitt Romney said Trump has failed to make even a plausible case of widespread fraud or conspiracy. Wyoming’s Representative Liz Cheney has also called for honoring the sanctity of the electoral process. Refusal by most of our elected officials to speak up comes at an unusually perilous moment for American democracy – as a president takes the unprecedented step of wielding the powers of his office to try to subvert the will of the voters.

President Trump’s campaign has suffered a string of defeats in court as its baseless claims about fraudulent voting have withered under scrutiny. So far, dozens of court cases have been dismissed by judges or dropped by Trump’s lawyers for lack of evidence. All these lawsuits have failed to materially affect election results.

Arguably, the 2020 election was the most scrutinized in America’s history. The Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council Executive Committee also declared it the most secure, stating, “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.” President Trump has characteristically disregarded the evidence and the experts. Indeed, he fired Christopher Krebs, whom he had appointed two years ago to lead the Cyber & Infrastructure Security Agency, for his validation of the election process. 

We strongly disagree with those who argue there is nothing to lose by humoring President Trump. The incoming Biden Administration will face monumental challenges, both home and abroad, with precious little time to prepare. Depriving his transition team of essential information and daily briefings endangers the health and security of American citizens. Even more threatening to our democracy, the constant drumbeat of empty accusations, without any supporting evidence, undermines public faith in our voting system and insults the record numbers of people who bothered to vote in the middle of a pandemic. Attempts to target certain districts and nullify votes cast by people of color only reinforce their perception that they have been systematically disenfranchised.

It is time to move on. Please let your voice and your wisdom be heard. Thank you for your service to Wyoming and your commitment to democracy.
 
Sincerely,
 
Ronn Smith, Co-chair
Wyoming Rising

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