The three commissioners of Stark County, Ohio—all of whom are Republicans—have decided to nix a December 2020 deal to buy $6.45 million in new voting equipment from Dominion Voting Systems after being swamped with hundreds of angry phone calls from supporters of former President Donald Trump, reported Cleveland Scene. “They believe the election was stolen from Trump and we should stand by Trump and the Dominion machines have been known to be hacked,” one said in January. “It’s been the most calls I’ve ever received as a county commissioner.” Knuckling under to the mob’s misplaced concerns, which echoed the provably false claims made by Trump and his lawyer former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani about election meddling, the commissioners had the county’s budget director re-analyze the Dominion purchase. They then claimed to have second thoughts about the price, and reportedly instructed one of the losing bidders, Elections Systems and Software, to submit a new offer. This time, it came in $143,262 lower than Dominion’s, winning the final contract.
