Democracy is Under Stealth Attack by Republicans

August 16, 2024

You may remember a few years ago that I said that voting rights legislation was the single most important thing Congress could pass in 2021, and that the filibuster should be removed even if just for this issue to accomplish that. Democrats put forth two important voting rights bills that President Biden supported, but Manchin and Sinema refused to support them and the bills could not pass in the Senate. Absolutely nothing in those bills was controversial before Trump and his self-serving conspiracy theories came to town. And, frankly, Biden and other top Democrats did not do enough to get these bills enacted. Not once did the president call for the filibuster to be removed for voting rights. Voting rights. In a democracy. It is somehow not that important. Well, the failure of Democrats to pass these bills could come back to haunt them in November.

The Bulwark notes:

An investigation by Rolling Stone identified “in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania . . . at least 70 pro-Trump election conspiracists currently working as county election officials who have questioned the validity of elections or delayed or refused to certify results.” Of those 70, 22 of them already have “refused or delayed certification” in recent past elections. Nationwide, Republicans have refused to certify results at least 25 times since 2020, in eight states—the most in Georgia.

The article describes social media posts from the zealots who have infiltrated election administration as showing “unapologetic belief in Trump’s election lies, support for political violence, themes of Christian nationalism, and controversial race-based views.”

There are more than enough such individuals in these key posts to bring us to a constitutional crisis.

Georgia is a serious problem. Trump been singing the praises of three election board members while attacking Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and Secretary of State Brad Rafensperger (R) - which is the way he puts people on notice that he will attack them if they displease him. But there was something else afoot. The election board by a 3-2 margin (with those three members Trump was praising in the majority) have issued a new rule that will essentially allow local election boards to refuse to certify local results, which can prevent the state from certifying. According to Marc Elias, this almost certainly violates state law.

Trump for whatever reasons desperately does not want to lose Georgia. But, if Harris wins the Blue Wall states and carries the rest of the 2020 Biden states, she will still win with 270 electoral votes even if Republicans are successful at preventing Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada from certifying. But, if they can do the same in Wisconsin where they have also placed right wing saboteurs in election offices then no one would get a majority in the electoral college. That would throw the election to the House of Representatives.

If that happens, each state would get one vote in deciding the new president. It would not be the current House, but the House elected in November. So this should give voters an incentive to elect Democrats around the country. Congress may not just oversee the certification of the election, it might decide the winner. If the election is not certified in some states that should mean that no races are certified - so there would be no House members from Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Nevada. Currently, three of those states have majority Republican delegations. That would mean Republicans would lose three states and Democrats one. With the current make-up, that might mean a tie in the House. So what does that mean? That means the Vice President-Elect becomes Acting President. Who would that be? Tim Walz if the Democrats hold the Senate. JD Vance if they don’t.

We can rest assured that Republicans will invent some rationale for not certifying the presidential election, but certifying other federal elections. And the blocking of certification likely will violate state and federal election laws. So, we will definitely be in court this November. Do not expect an easy resolution - unless, perhaps, Harris wins in an absolute landslide so that the blocking of certifications cannot find any legitimacy except among the most diehard fascists.

In addition to sabotaging the elections process from within, Republicans are also intimidating and harassing honest public servants, including people who volunteer to be poll workers. Two weeks ago in Chicago, the American Bar Association’s Task Force for American Democracy issued a call to action to lawyers about protecting democracy. Here are the Task Force’s recommendations:

Individual lawyers can:

• Vote and encourage others to vote

• Become a poll worker

• Give talks in your community or write content for your local newspaper about the rule of law, democracy and elections

• Contact the local election board members and the board’s legal counsel and offer to help

• Serve as a pro bono lawyer protecting election officials through the Election Official Legal Defense Network

• Dispel election misinformation and disinformation in your community as it arises

• Condemn violence or the threat of violence, especially as it relates to our elections and our judicial system

• Share the list with colleagues and members of the bar and encourage them to get involved

Bar associations can:

• Enforce lawyers’ ethical obligations when it comes to the filing of questionable election-related lawsuits

• Host and support seminars and public speaking engagements by members to promote the rule of law, confidence in our elections and the importance of voicing our disagreements in a civil and respectful manner

• Organize joint programming with local chambers of commerce, schools, community groups and others related to the rule of law, civics education and democracy

• Ensure pro-bono legal assistance is available to election officials under attack or connect those officials to the Election Officials Legal Defense Network

If you are a lawyer, please do what you can to implement one, some, or all of these recommendations. But you don’t have to be a lawyer to help! Anyone can become a poll worker, for example. Check with your local or county elections office for how to get involved.