A new bipartisan group of officials, called the National Council on Election Integrity, launched earlier this month with a campaign aimed at shoring up confidence in the election system. It includes Republicans like former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who was Secretary of Homeland Security in the George W. Bush administration; former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, a former GOP senator who served in the Obama administration; and former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, also a former GOP senator who served in the Trump administration.
After the election, Ridge said, the group’s focus will shift to ensuring a peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next, including continuing to push back on Trump’s efforts to undermine the legitimacy of late-counted ballots.
“Our purpose over the next couple of weeks is to make sure that every vote is counted, and that people are patient and wait for America’s voices to be heard,” Ridge told CNN. “And then ultimately work now to promote a peaceful transition of power that’s been going on ever since President George Washington left office.”
