The Republican activists launched their effort to force a do-over of the party’s Jan. 23 election after weeks of complaints that the closed-door election was improperly managed.

Ward and other party representatives had rejected repeated calls over the past two months to audit the results and procedures of the election, drawing a lawsuit from two activists and criticism from state lawmakers who drew comparisons between her calls for transparency in the 2020 presidential election with her rejection of calls for an audit of her own win…

“I’m very happy that we have been able to gather the signatures,” GOP activist William Beard said. “It shows that there are more than just a small group of malcontents that are concerned about the election integrity within the party. We have stood up and as a voice we are saying Republicans as a whole don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk.”