Hey! Sorry for not being on the blog more but a combination of a lot of hours at the paying job and family situations have kept me from doing this as often as I'd like. Also, when every day brings a new twist or turn it can be hard to keep up.
In about a day and a half (Monday December 14, 2020) the final step of the 2020 Presidential election will take place when the electors chosen by each state will cast their votes in the election as part of the electoral college (something we've learned way more than we ever wanted to know about in the past two election cycles). While this comes with little fanfare most election years as usually the person who lost the election has conceded and it's merely a formality. However, with the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago refusing to concede (and taking forever before allowing the GSA to allow President elect Joe Biden's team to start the transition tasks) and many many lawsuits whose persistence is only matched by their lack of making a clear case of election fraud and it's clear that there might be a chance for fireworks on this front as well,
Mainly this exists on two fronts. The first is the concept of a faithless elector who may change their mind as cast an electoral vote for the Mad Fuhrer in a state that Biden won. Theoretically if enough faithless electors do so than there could be some shenanigans. The problem here is that the votes are cast into envelopes that Congress won't read until January 6. In addition, while there were some faithless electors in 2016 on both sides the Supreme Court is allowing states greater leverage in requiring electors to cast the assigned votes.
Then there's the pressure on Repub state legislators in states where Biden won (particularly in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Arizona) to replace the assigned elector with an alternate hat would choose the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago over the assigned electoral vote for Biden. Normally this wouldn't even be thought of but since the Mad Fuhrer and his minions have proven themselves to be poor losers this time around it is something that needs to be taken into account more than a generally faithless elector.
Should these be a concern? Maybe - but there are deadlines passed and measures in place that will likely prevent this from becoming too big of a deal.
Several of the states being targeted by Repubs for choosing Biden over Donny (Wisconsin, Michigan, and Nevada) require their electors by law to vote for the person who won the electoral votes for the state, While this doesn't prevent a faithless elector said person would be charged with a misdemeanor and pay a $1,000.00 fine as a result. Add to this, for example, that if a Repub state legislator in a state like Pennsylvania that has a Democrat governor chose to appoint their own electors the governor would simply overrule them and use the electors appointed to vote that way the state voted - and while it's still possible, it doesn't appear likely (though, as we've learned from this year, never say absolutely never on that front). More important in how this election and the electoral vote will occur is what occurred on December 8th 2020.
On December 8th the electoral votes reached safe harbor status - the time when all the state level election challenges (such as recounts and audits) are supposed to be completed, including any state level lawsuits. At this point the states should have certified all their votes and that Congress shall be compelled to accept their results. In other words, once all the votes are certified and safe harbor is reached then, while the faithless elector remains a possible issue [and somewhat expected] Congress has to accept who won which state's electoral votes. At that time, with the exception of a state level lawsuit in Wisconsin and Hawaii not finishing certification, Joe Biden had already reached ov er the 270 electoral votes needed to win the Presidential election.
In most cases this would've likely been a done deal but the Mad Fuhrer's reusing to concede meant him and his minions and fans would continue with ridiculous lawsuits including two with the U.S. Supreme COurt. The first asked that the court overturn the electoral win for Biden in Pennsylvania. This was followed by a lawsuit from TX Atty General Paxton to challenge election laws in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin claiming the changes in rules to make voting easier allowed for voter fraud that was indetectable. SCOTUS refused to hear either case.
And with that the 2020 election is closer to being done. The one obstacle left is on January 6,2021 when Congress will have a reading of the electoral votes where Repubs in either the Senate or House may challenge some of the electoral votes for Biden. While these challenges are likely to happen (and the Repubs will make a big show out of it) the face that Democrats control the House of Rep[resentatives means that it's unlikely, barring any unforeseen event, for the election result to be overturned at that level, especially given safe harbor nailing down the electors and their votes.
And with that the election will be over. Once again many of us will wish to scrap the electoral college and go with the popular vote (if we did that already this would've been over a long time ago). And many will move on tired from politics but while the office holder will most likely change the damage the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago has done to the Repub party will continue for a long time to come.
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