A leader of a fringe activist group that tried to use the courts to stop November’s election has been urging Republican members of the Maryland State Board of Elections to use their positions to influence how elections are conducted — and the board members have been writing back, according to emails obtained through public records requests.

The dozens of pages of email threads also included speculative voter fraud scenarios discussed between state Republican Party leaders and a GOP election board member.

National democracy watchdogs say they’re seeing interactions like these play out in Maryland and across the country, ahead of a presidential contest in which distrust in elections not only has soared but is part of a larger “playbook.”

Records obtained by American Oversight, a national nonpartisan good-governance watchdog, and shared with The Baltimore Banner revealed exchanges between Kate Sullivan, Maryland chapter director of the group suing the state elections board, and Republican board members Diane Butler and Jim Shalleck.

In May, a federal judge threw out the lawsuit filed by Maryland Election Integrity LLC and Missouri-based nonprofit United Sovereign Americans, ruling they lacked standing and simply alleged “generalized grievances.” But the plaintiffs have appealed the decision.

Meanwhile, Shalleck and Butler have relayed inquiries on behalf of Sullivan and, in Shalleck’s case, bogus election fraud theories on behalf of others, to Maryland State Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis. At times, they’ve relayed DeMarinis’ answers or internal conversations they’ve had with him to the activists. Nothing in the records indicates they are discussing the lawsuit with Sullivan or others.

But a democracy advocacy group and a state lawmaker are questioning whether the board members hold conflicting interests.

“There’s, to me, a clear conflict where you have board members communicating and receiving advice and recommendations from individuals who were plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the very board upon which you sit,” said Chioma Chukwu, deputy executive director for American Oversight. “That is incredibly problematic and, in fact, it appears to violate the board’s own bylaws.”

Members are required “to conduct themselves in accordance with high ethical standards in order to ensure the public that members are independent of partisan pressures and conflicting interests,” according to the bylaws.

Chukwu said her group is “particularly concerned” with Sullivan’s proximity to board members. Sullivan’s take on free and fair elections is “out of touch with reality,” and echoing her issues in a public forum could spread misinformation and invite needless voter concern, Chukwu said.

“That is where the problem lies,” the attorney said. “Because by repeating the falsehoods we’re perpetuating the myths. We are undermining trust in U.S. elections.”

Sullivan did not respond to several emails requesting comment.

DeMarinis said the board members represent their parties “but administer and guide Maryland elections in a nonpartisan fashion.” He said Marylanders can feel confident about how elections are conducted in Maryland.

DeMarinis said he expects the board will address the conversations between board members and plaintiffs in active litigation in future board meetings. The board, he said, “is privy to information in closed session regarding legal strategies and subject to attorney-client privilege. The board itself can waive attorney-client privilege, not an individual member.”

Butler said she was not allowed to speak on the record about board matters. Shalleck said he didn’t feel he had done anything wrong by communicating with Sullivan and other election activists and that he’d listen to citizens from all parties who bring him their concerns. He said he was aware of Sullivan’s lawsuit but had never spoken with her about it and does not agree with Sullivan’s take on election security. He said Maryland’s elections are sound.

A request for correspondence between Sullivan and any Democratic elections board members did not return any responses. Sullivan did not respond to requests for comment.

‘Primary Debrief’

In June, about a month after a federal judge dismissed Sullivan’s case, she emailed Butler and Shalleck to congratulate them on their appointments. The subject line read: “Primary Debrief.”

“Both of you are in a unique position to truly impact the professionalism and thoroughness with which the State Board of Elections oversees and manages the security of our elections,” she wrote. “We know both of you will be vigilant in your stewardship.”

Sullivan also shared a bulleted list of her concerns about elections processes — election judges’ attendance, precinct vote reconciliations and ballot custody. The board’s trust in its own processes was part of the problem, she said, and she appeared to have knowledge of their views on elections.

“This circular argument may make them [board members] feel good, but it does not guarantee security in our election system which we know we don’t need to remind you, is critical infrastructure,” she said.

Shalleck thanked her. ”Let’s conference call soon,” he wrote.

One of Sullivan’s main complaints was the need for more Republican election judges. Butler provided Sullivan advice on her best chance to secure spots for Republican election judges from what appeared to be Sullivan’s own list of recruits.

She told Sullivan to show up at local board of elections meetings and publicly offer Republican judges so her statements would be written in the minutes. “This is important,” Butler wrote.

Under Maryland law, each polling location generally must be staffed by at least four judges, with an equal number coming from the majority party and the minority party. For larger precincts that need more judges, the law allows elections officials to include judges who are not affiliated with either party, who are minors or who are from other counties.

DeMarinis, the top elections administrator, has found himself defending the role of election judges this season, following a dustup in Talbot County, where the sheriff questioned the balance of party affiliation among election judges.

“An election judge’s partisan affiliation does not impact or determine the outcome of the election,” he said in an October news release. “Voters decide the outcomes of elections.”

Maryland voter group part of national strategy

The lawsuit seeking to block Maryland’s elections by Sullivan’s Maryland Election Integrity LLC was the first of a handful of cases filed in states questioning the validity of election processes and voter registrations.

Good-governance groups watching cases like Sullivan’s play out across the country have said the “baseless claims” about widespread voting irregularities are being used to question elections and undermine democracy.

Sullivan does not work for nor is she contracted by the state elections board but is a member of a growing group of “election integrity” activists around the country who have taken it upon themselves to investigate voter rolls and, in some cases, sue their state elections boards.

She’s a member of the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee, a local arm of the state Republican Party, and started her own group, Secure the Vote MD. The organization has its own election hotline and publishes its own report card with failing grades for the state board.

She regularly gathers with a team of volunteers to discuss election integrity matters, according to statements she’s made at a public meeting. And she wants to eliminate mail-in voting and early voting, according to her emails.

Last year, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, she spoke with former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon in an impromptu interview and mentioned to him that she held a fundraiser at her home for people convicted in connection with the 2021 insurrection.

She appeared on an internet talk show hosted by Trump ally and MyPillow Founder Mike Lindell to update him on the progress of her activism in Maryland. She told Lindell the biggest “block” to her progress was the state board.

During a June civic meeting, she plugged her poll watcher training program and urged volunteers to “do your part and be patient with their [the elections board’s] incompetencies.”

GOP election preoccupations

Butler shared a laundry list of oversight checks on elections processes with Maryland Republican Party Chair Nicole Beus Harris and Republican National Committeewoman for Maryland Nicolee Ambrose. Political parties’ leaders do not oversee or administer Maryland elections.

Butler’s brain dump also included fixations from conservative circles, such as “Zuckerbucks” — $400 million in grants by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife to assist with COVID-related elections accommodations. Dozens of mostly conservative states have since banned the grants.

“6 million dollars worth of Zuckerbucks are back in play in at least three states, two of them swing states, this election,” Butler wrote. “Have we outlawed this...?”

Shalleck in August brought a “voter integrity” report proclaimed by a Wisconsin election denier and convicted felon to expose voter fraud in Wisconsin’s elections to DeMarinis’ attention. The study was sent to Shalleck by a different Republican election activist, Robyn Sachs of Maryland Voter Integrity Group, known to work with Sullivan.

Shalleck then relayed the details of his conversation with DeMarinis to Sachs and others. Shalleck said Sunday he knew the study’s author was an election denier but felt it was his responsibility to share the information with DeMarinis.

Beus Harris said as head of the state GOP she works with members of central committees across the state and frequently speaks with the Republican board members to stay informed and express concerns.

”When it comes to election integrity, the MDGOP National Committeewoman Nicolee Ambrose and our General Counsel lead our efforts,” she said in the statement. “As a Party, we are responsible for looking into election irregularities, reporting issues, helping to find answers, and if necessary pursuing solutions.”

In a statement, Ambrose said, “My concerns about Maryland’s lax Board of Elections procedures are well documented for the whole world to see,” and shared a link to a Baltimore Sun opinion article she wrote on the ease with which someone could request a mail-in ballot by entering information on the state board’s website.

A series of problematic GOP nominees

Appointees to the state elections board have received increased scrutiny after state Republicans nominated a series of problematic candidates who were rejected during vetting.

Butler was nominated to fill a spot vacated by a Republican board member after federal authorities arrested and charged him for taking part in the Jan. 6, 2021, election-related riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The charges against Carlos Ayala of Salisbury changed how Maryland lawmakers vetted elections board candidates, including asking nominees where they were that day. Butler told senators she was at home cleaning her fish tank.

Though the Senate gave her a favorable vote, 32-12, some Democrats questioned her fitness then and are doing so again after learning of the emails.

“I didn’t believe that she should be appointed to the state board of elections. And now, I feel even more strongly that she should resign her position effective immediately because she is clearly not committed to impartially overseeing our state elections,” state Sen. Cheryl Kagan of Montgomery County said after hearing of the board member’s communications with Sullivan.

“In no way should she [Butler] be beholden to or collaborating with MAGA extremists and election deniers, especially when there’s pending litigation,” the Democrat said.

Shalleck has a long track record of partnering with Democrats as a county elections board chair, she said. “I hope he will continue that pattern of thoughtfulness and cooperation.”

Shalleck is serving on the board pending Senate confirmation at the legislature’s next session. Gov. Wes Moore held off on appointing Shalleck until after May’s primary election. That was because Shalleck was on the ballot to be a delegate to the Republican National Convention — and it would be inappropriate to have someone on the ballot involved in overseeing the election.

Beus Harris, the Maryland Republican Party chair, is responsible for submitting names to Moore for vetting by his office and then the Senate.

Beus Harris wrote in an email to Shalleck that Sullivan had “highly praised” her choice of both of them.

Baltimore Banner reporter Pamela Wood contributed to this article.