Topline
A jarring new report from The Atlantic claims that the Trump marketing campaign is discussing potential methods to avoid the outcomes of the 2020 election, ought to Joe Biden defeat Donald Trump, by first alleging the existence of rampant fraud after which asking legislators in battleground states the place the Republicans have a legislative majority to bypass the state’s fashionable vote and as a substitute to decide on electors loyal to the GOP and the sitting president.
President Donald Trump shushes journalists earlier than signing the Paycheck Safety Program … [+] Flexibility Act within the Rose Backyard on the White Home June 5, 2020 in Washington, D.C.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Photographs
Key Information
Following the casting of ballots and counting particular person votes in a presidential election, america Structure prescribes that the 538 electors who represent the Electoral Faculty forged their electoral votes, figuring out the winner.
Typically, electors are chosen by fashionable vote, however nothing within the Structure mandates that custom, with Article II, Part 1, Clause 2 merely asserting that every state shall appoint electors “in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct.”
For the reason that late 1800s, each state in each presidential election has ceded the choice to its voters, however the Supreme Court docket affirmed in Bush v. Gore {that a} state “can take back the power to appoint electors.”
The Atlantic report claims that sources within the Republican Get together on the native and nationwide ranges affirm that “the Trump campaign is discussing contingency plans to bypass election results and appoint loyal electors” in pink battleground states.
“The push to appoint electors would be framed in terms of protecting the people’s will,” an unnamed Trump-campaign authorized adviser tells The Atlantic, including, “The state legislatures will say, ‘All right, we’ve been given this constitutional power. We don’t think the results of our own state are accurate, so here’s our slate of electors that we think properly reflect the results of our state.’”
The chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Get together says, on the document, that he has mentioned appointing loyal electors with the Trump marketing campaign: “It is one of the available legal options set forth in the Constitution.”
Key Background:
A vital issue within the Trump marketing campaign’s strategy is delegitimizing mail-in and provisional ballots and some other votes that aren’t counted by the top of Election Day, November 3, as these different votes are anticipated to closely favor Biden. Earlier this summer season, Trump tweeted, “MAIL-IN VOTING WILL LEAD TO MASSIVE FRAUD AND ABUSE. IT WILL ALSO LEAD TO THE END OF OUR GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY. WE CAN NEVER LET THIS TRAGEDY BEFALL OUR NATION.” Later, in a Twitter put up in July, Trump wrote, “With Common Mail-In Voting, 2020 would be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in historical past.” Nonetheless, as a result of coronavirus pandemic, 2020 will function extra voting by mail than some other election in historical past. Earlier this week, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) stated he plans to spend the subsequent six weeks urging the nation to arrange for a “nightmare state of affairs” during which Trump declares himself the winner of the election and refuses to go away the White Home. Thus, Sanders recommends states tally mail-in ballots as shortly as doable, urging them to start processing and counting ballots earlier than Election Day. When The Atlantic requested the Trump marketing campaign to touch upon the quotes within the article, and about doable plans to take the unprecedented step of appointing loyal electors, the president’s deputy nationwide press secretary, Thea McDonald, didn’t deal with the questions straight. “It’s outrageous that President Trump and his team are being villainized for upholding the rule of law and transparently fighting for a free and fair election,” McDonald stated in an electronic mail. “The mainstream media are giving the Democrats a free pass for their attempts to completely uproot the system and throw our election into chaos.”
Essential Quote:
When requested by Fox Information’ Chris Wallace earlier this summer season if he would settle for the election outcomes, President Trump stated, “I’ve to see. Look, you—I’ve to see. No, I am not going to only say sure. I am not going to say no, and I did not final time, both.”
Large Quantity:
31: An investigation by Justin Levitt at Loyola Legislation College uncovered a complete of 31 credible allegations of voter impersonation out of greater than 1 billion votes forged in america from 2000 to 2014.
Additional Studying:
The Election That May Break America (The Atlantic)
Bernie Sanders: U.S. Should Put together For ‘Nightmare State of affairs’ Of Trump Delegitimizing Election Outcomes (Forbes)
