Ken Blackwell: Republicans should station poll workers at every precinct in 2022

Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell is urging that all Republican candidates should follow the lead of GOP Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin, who is training ex-military to be poll workers on Election Day.

Youngkin's campaign is ensuring they have poll workers — not just observers — at every precinct for the the state's gubernatorial election in November, Blackwell explained on the John Solomon Reports podcast Wednesday.

With this strategy, "any attempt to hide in the dark corners of a process and snatch this election from the voters of Virginia will be stopped dead in its tracks," said Ohio's former top election official.

"[S]afeguarding the integrity of our elections is paramount to preserving our republic," he continued. "And any attempts of individual cheaters, or any attempt by the federal government to concentrate control of our elections back in one party in Washington, D.C. must be resist[ed]."

Blackwell added that Virginia is the first test case "to build a strong team on the field — you know, not sideline sitters, but folks who are on the frontline."

Blackwell was asked if the Republican Party should train poll workers, like Youngkin is doing with ex-military, and have them cover every precinct in America during the 2022 midterm elections. "I'm encouraging ... that battle plan to be carried out in every state," he replied.

In a country of over 3,000 counties, there are hundreds of thousands of precincts, he noted.

"[W]e cannot allow what happened in 2020 to happen again," Blackwell stressed, when "we had tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of precincts left uncovered."

Local control of elections provides better chain of custody for ballots and "enhances our ability to verify that voters are who they claim to be," explained Blackwell, the former mayor of Cincinnati.

"We must shine light on this process," he said. "We must push for transparency, and it starts with getting every precinct covered, and Virginia is doing it."