Pam Fessler for NPR.
Monthly Archives: December 2020
“McConnell calls Jan. 6 certification his ‘most consequential vote'”
Behind the scenes: McConnell said on the call that the January 6th vote is “a vote of conscience,” these sources said.
- A source paraphrased McConnell as saying, “I’m finishing 36 years in the Senate and I’ve cast a lot of big votes.” including over war and impeachment.
- “And in my view, just my view,” McConnell said, “this is will be the most consequential I have ever cast.”
- “The context was McConnell saying we’re being asked to overturn the results after a guy didn’t get as many electoral votes and lost by 7 million popular votes,” the source said.
Between the lines: Many Republican senators are furious at Hawley for forcing them to take what Trump is setting up as the ultimate loyalty test on January 6th.
Vice President Pence Files Straightforward Brief Opposing Rep. Gohmert Lawsuit Seeking to Give Pence Unlimited Powers to Decide on Electoral College Votes (Stop Worrying)
This short brief is well done.
“Trump has yet to accept the election results months after Republicans said he would”
WaPo:
The day after President Trump in late September refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power, congressional Republicans were quick to reassure the nation he would.
“The winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tweeted at the time.
“Let me be very clear to you: It will be peaceful,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said.
“If Republicans lose, we will accept that result,” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) told Fox News. “ … If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Joe Biden, I will accept that result.”
“I think that the president will accept the result, but you’ve got to make sure that it’s fair,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said.
Since then, Trump and the vast majority of congressional Republicans have yet to publicly accept the results of the presidential election nearly two months after it was called for Joe Biden. You can watch examples of Republicans promising that the president would accept the results of the election in the video above.
The Republican Party continues refusing to accept the election results even as state and federal investigations have found little or no voter fraud and as Trump has lost 59 of 60 election lawsuits filed by his campaign and political allies, including two filed at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Among the roughly three dozen congressional Republicans who have publicly acknowledged Biden’s win, many waited days or weeks after the election was called before doing so. It was a stark departure from the public congratulations that many of those same Republicans gave to then-President-elect Trump in the hours and days after the 2016 election was called.
That so many elected Republicans still refuse to accept the election’s outcome is perhaps not surprising, given how many Trump supporters falsely think that Biden did not legitimately win the election.
“Judge rolls back order on Georgia runoff voter challenges”
Electionline’s “In and Out” List
Find it here.
Supreme Court Will Hear Arizona Voting Rights Case, Brnovich v. DNC, on March 2
“Sen. Sasse calls effort to overturn electoral college vote a ‘dangerous ploy’
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Thursday called the effort in Congress to reverse President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral college victory a “dangerous ploy,” underscoring the challenge President Trump faces in persuading even members of his own party to join it.
In an open letter to constituents, Sasse wrote that there is no evidence of fraud so widespread that it could change the results and said he has urged his colleagues to reject “a project to overturn the election.”
“All the clever arguments and rhetorical gymnastics in the world won’t change the fact that this January 6th effort is designed to disenfranchise millions of Americans simply because they voted for someone in a different party,” Sasse wrote on Facebook. “We ought to be better than that.”
His letter followed Wednesday’s announcement by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) that he will object next week when Congress convenes to certify the electoral college vote, a move that will force a contentious floor debate that top Senate Republicans had hoped to avoid.
It is worth reading Sen. Sasse’s full post.
California Court of Appeal Unanimously Affirms City of Santa Clara’s Liability in California Voting Rights Act Case, First to Trial Involving Asian-American Plaintiffs
This is an important decision.
Josh Douglas: “The real reason you need to worry about Hawley’s objection to Biden victory”
Josh Douglas for CNN Opinion:
Don’t be too nervous about Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s announcement that he will object to the certification of Joe Biden as President when Congress meets on Jan. 6. His ploy won’t stop Biden from taking the oath of office on Jan. 20. But it should make everyone concerned about the long-term health of our democracy.
Trump Campaign Files Yet Another Quixotic Supreme Court Petition Seeking to Overturn Election Results from Wisconsin, Misspelling “Laches”
Pennsylvania, Opposing Trump Effort to Expedite Consideration of One of Its Bonkers Election Challenges, Calls Argument About Trump’s Delay “Profoundly Incoherent”
The opposition also says this:
The Trump Campaign threatens that “if this matter is not timely resolved, not only Petitioner, but the Nation as a whole may suffer injury from the resulting confusion.” Motion at 5. But it is the Trump Campaign that has manufactured this confusion through its baseless attacks on the election, and now seeks to rely on that confusion to obtain relief. The Trump Campaign may seek refuge by constructing an alternative reality with alternative electors, but this Court should not indulge that effort. In courts of law, facts, evidentiary standards, legal doctrines, and the constitutionally prescribed method for electing the President of the United States are fundamental. As is deference to the will of the voters. Pennsylvania voters have made their choice for President, and that choice was ratified by the only Electoral College that actually exists.
“Census Bureau to miss deadline, jeopardizing Trump plan”
The Census Bureau will miss a year-end deadline for handing in numbers used for divvying up congressional seats, a delay that could undermine President Donald Trump’s efforts to exclude people in the country illegally from the count if the figures aren’t submitted before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
The Census Bureau plans to deliver a population count of each state in early 2021, as close to the missed deadline as possible, the statistical agency said in a statement late Wednesday.
“As issues that could affect the accuracy of the data are detected, they are corrected,” the statement said. “The schedule for reporting this data is not static. Projected dates are fluid.”
It will be the first time that the Dec. 31 target date is missed since the deadline was implemented more than four decades ago by Congress.
Internal documents obtained earlier this month by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform show that Census Bureau officials don’t expect the apportionment numbers to be ready until days after Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
My 2020 Opeds and Commentaries
This has been quite a trying year for the country and its election system. I’ve chronicled much of that in the opeds below. Here’s to a healthier, happier, and more stable 2021 and beyond! Thanks for reading
More and More Republican Officials Are Standing Up to Trump and His Effort to Overturn the Election, Slate, Dec. 1, 2020
Trump’s Legal Farce is Having Tragic Results, N.Y. Times, Nov. 23, 2020
Trump Needs Three Consecutive Hail Mary Passes, The Atlantic, Nov. 11, 2020
What Happens If Trump Won’t Concede?, Slate, Nov. 8, 2020
New Lawsuit to Halt Ballot Cures in Pennsylvania Could Preview Trump’s Postelection Strategy, Slate, Nov. 3, 2020
Trump Can’t Just “Declare Victory,” Slate, Nov. 1, 2020
Our Biggest Election Day Concern, CNN Opinion, Nov. 1, 2020 (with Richard H. Pildes)
Kavanaugh has wild ideas about voting. They likely won’t matter on Election Day, Washington Post, Oct. 27, 2020
In a 4-4 Split, the Supreme Court Lets Pennsylvania Make Voting Easier—For Now, Slate, Oct. 19, 2020
We’re Living in the Shadows of Bush v. Gore 2.0, Slate, Oct. 19, 2020 (with Dahlia Lithwick)
What If There’s No Winner on November 4?, CNN Opinion, Oct. 19, 2020
A Key Fix for an Unthinkable Election Disaster, CNN Opinion, Oct. 5, 2020
This Will Be a Crucial Week for Pandemic Voting Cases at the Supreme Court, Slate, Oct. 5, 2020
Trump’s New Supreme Court Is Coming for the Next Dozen Elections, N.Y. Mag, Oct. 5, 2020
Electoral Chaos Might Ensue if Biden or Trump Were Forced Out of the Race, Slate, Oct. 2, 2020
Don’t fall for claims of voter fraud, L.A. Times, Sept. 25, 2020
I’ve Never Been More Worried About American Democracy Than I Am Right Now, Slate, Sept. 23, 2020
Can Congress Salvage RBG’s Legacy?, Slate, Sept. 21, 2020
Barr’s Undermining of the Election is Downright Dangerous, CNN Opinion, Sept. 17, 2020
Democrats May Not Trust the Election Results if Trump Wins, Wash. Post, Sept. 10, 2020
Donald Trump’s Encouragement to Vote Twice Could Cause Election Day Chaos, Slate, Sept. 3, 2020
Trump’s Relentless Attacks on Mail-In Voting Are Part of a Larger Strategy, N.Y. Times, Aug. 19, 2020
California’s Ballot Harvesting Law: A Crop of Trouble?, L.A. Lawyer, July/Aug. 2020
Bring on the 28th Amendment, N.Y. Times Sunday Review, June 29, 2020
Texas Voters Face Malicious Prosecutions After COVID-19 Absentee Ballot Ruling, Slate, May 27, 2020
The Right-Wing Legal Network is Now Openly Pushing Conspiracy Theories, Slate, May 27, 2020 (with Dahlia Lithwick)
Trump’s bogus attacks on mail-in voting could hurt his supporters, too; The president is undermining democracy. He could also be undermining his own campaign, Wash. Post, May 20, 2020
GOP War on Mail-in Ballots May Backfire, NY Daily News, Apr. 20, 2020
We Cannot Hold an Election Without a Functional Post Office, Slate, Apr. 14, 2020
Trump is Wrong About the Dangers of Absentee Ballots, Wash. Post, Apr. 9, 2020
How Republicans are Using the Pandemic to Suppress the Vote, LA Times, Apr. 4, 2020
What Happens in November if One Side Doesn’t Accept the Election Results? How coronavirus could contribute to a 2020 election meltdown, Slate, Mar. 30, 2020
How to Protect the 2020 Election from Coronavirus, Slate, Mar. 13, 2020
Why Trump and the RNC are spending $10 million to fight Democrats’ voting rights lawsuits, Slate, Mar. 5, 2020
Can’t Call the Super Tuesday Vote? Be Patient, LA Times, Mar. 3, 2020
If Democrats Fight Right-Wing ‘Fake News’ Fire with Fire, We All Lose, Salon, Feb. 24, 2020
How to Prevent the Next Election Meltdown, Wall St. Journal, Feb. 7, 2020 (Saturday Essay)
What the Impeachment Ordeal Can Tell Us About the 2020 Election, CNN Opinion, Feb. 5, 2020
Trump’s Jokes About Defying Election Results Could Create Chaos, Slate, Feb. 4, 2020
The Alarming Prospect of the Supreme Court Deciding the 2020 Election, The Atlantic, Feb. 3, 2020
The loser of November’s election may not concede. Their voters won’t, either, Wash. Post, Jan. 24, 2020 (Sunday Outlook)