Gov.-elect Spencer Cox rejects claims of voter fraud, encourages civility, peaceful transition

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, the state's governor-elect and current top elections official, disputes claims of mass voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Cox has already joined several Republican leaders in congratulating President-elect Joe Biden, though President Donald Trump has not conceded the race and his campaign has filed lawsuits in several states.

"I do think we need to move forward — none of this changes the outcome of the actual election," said Cox in an interview with CNN on Wednesday. "There was no evidence of mass voter fraud," he continued.

There has been no evidence of widespread election fraud that would overturn the results of the presidential election, with several of the Trump campaign's lawsuits being dismissed in courts.

"What we shouldn't be doing is accepting as fact baseless allegations. If there is evidence, let's review the evidence, let's put the evidence in front of arbitrators of truth, the judges," Cox said. "Let's make those decisions and move on. But we can't accept that as the gospel until there has been a factual basis."

Cox pointed to social media and a willingness to believe anything as a point of frustration.

According to NPR, during the 2020 election, Twitter included more prominent warning labels on misleading or disputed claims and limited how such claims could be shared. Twitter said on Thursday that between Oct. 27 and Nov. 11, it had labeled about 300,000 tweets as containing "disputed and potentially misleading" information about the election.

Tweets prematurely declaring victories in some states were marked by the social media company as misleading.

In a series of tweets on Thursday, Cox confronted accusations of voter fraud saying, "Sometimes our team just loses. It doesn't mean the other side cheated, it just means we have to work harder next time to convince more voters."

Cox is one of several Utah Republicans who have congratulated Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their win, joining former governors Mike Leavitt and Jon Huntsman Jr., along with Sen. Mitt Romney. Several other national Republican figures have also urged Trump to allow Biden access to intelligence briefings that are standard procedure for incoming presidents, even some who stopped short of acknowledging Biden as president-elect.

"In Utah, we really do believe in civility," said Cox, "and we believe in finding ways to work together. "

Cox marketed his campaign on a theme of unity, even airing an ad with his competitor in the governor's race, Chris Peterson, with that message.

Using that message, Cox encouraged a peaceful transition of power. He pointed out his disagreement with officials from the Trump administration blocking Biden from accessing transition materials, office space and funding.

"By starting that process, that doesn't change the election," said Cox. "It just makes sure that whoever the next president is they are prepared from day one to govern and that's good for all of us." He concluded, "This shouldn't be controversial, the idea of helping both candidates getting access to this material that they need."

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