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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTHE TRUMP CAMPAIGN IS REPORTEDLY PLOTTING AN ELECTION COUP TO "BYPASS" A BIDEN WIN
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/09/trump-campaign-election-coup-bypass-biden-winHow Republican-controlled state legislatures could be used to circumvent the results of the election and ensure a Trump victory.
Trump has been throwing everything hes got at the 2020 election to ensure a favorable result or otherwise undermine the outcome: Sowing doubt in the legitimacy of mail-in ballots. Screwing with the Postal Service that will handle them. Trying to recruit law enforcement as poll watchers. Flirting with delaying the election and openly stating that he wont accept any results he doesnt like.
Now the Trump campaign is said to be considering another, even more outrageous approach: In a thorough and deeply disconcerting piece about the constitutional crisis that may await us between November 3 and the inauguration in January, the Atlantics Barton Gellman reports that the Trump campaign has been discussing contingency plans to bypass the election results and appoint local electors in battleground states where Republicans hold the legislative majority. Citing the presidents baseless claims of fraud, Team Trump could ask GOP-controlled state governments to choose electors, completely ignoring an unfavorable or uncertain popular vote, state and national Republican sources told Gellman.
The state legislatures will say, All right, weve been given this constitutional power, a Trump campaign legal adviser explained to the Atlantic. We dont think the results of our own state are accurate, so heres our slate of electors that we think properly reflect the results of our state.
Does completely ignoring the will of the voters seem anti-democratic? Unconstitutional? Impossible? One would think. But as Gellman points out, however authoritarian this kind of end-around may seem, the Constitution doesnt forbid such a move, and its something the Trump campaign could pull off. Indeed, state Republican leaders have already casually indicated that theyd be all too happy to enable this kind of power grab. Ive mentioned it to them, and I hope theyre thinking about it too, Lawrence Tabas, chairman of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania, one of the swing states on which the 2020 race could hinge, told Gellman. It is one of the available legal options set forth in the constitution.
Disturbing as the prospect of bypassing the popular vote in GOP-controlled battlegrounds may be, its but one of several vulnerabilities in the electoral system Trump and his flunkies are trying to exploit this fall, ranging from complex legal fights to declaring absentee ballots fraudulent before theyve even been processed to the possibility likelihood? that the president will simply pronounce himself the winner before all votes are tallied. While Joe Biden and the Democrats are sounding increasingly loud alarms, it remains frustratingly unclear what they can do to prevent the country from plummeting into this looming crisis. A quick and overwhelming Biden victory would certainly help matters, but it's a tough proposition: While the Democrat retains a strong lead over his counterpart nationally, polls suggest the two are locked in tight races in several key states like Georgia, Iowa, Florida, and Arizona. The idea that typically deep-red states like Texas and Georgia are in play for Biden would seem to reflect the presidents challenging reelection prospectsbut those states all are controlled by Republican-majority legislatures, creating just the opening Trump needs to call the votes bogus and appoint electors that will decide in his favor.
Trump has been throwing everything hes got at the 2020 election to ensure a favorable result or otherwise undermine the outcome: Sowing doubt in the legitimacy of mail-in ballots. Screwing with the Postal Service that will handle them. Trying to recruit law enforcement as poll watchers. Flirting with delaying the election and openly stating that he wont accept any results he doesnt like.
Now the Trump campaign is said to be considering another, even more outrageous approach: In a thorough and deeply disconcerting piece about the constitutional crisis that may await us between November 3 and the inauguration in January, the Atlantics Barton Gellman reports that the Trump campaign has been discussing contingency plans to bypass the election results and appoint local electors in battleground states where Republicans hold the legislative majority. Citing the presidents baseless claims of fraud, Team Trump could ask GOP-controlled state governments to choose electors, completely ignoring an unfavorable or uncertain popular vote, state and national Republican sources told Gellman.
The state legislatures will say, All right, weve been given this constitutional power, a Trump campaign legal adviser explained to the Atlantic. We dont think the results of our own state are accurate, so heres our slate of electors that we think properly reflect the results of our state.
Does completely ignoring the will of the voters seem anti-democratic? Unconstitutional? Impossible? One would think. But as Gellman points out, however authoritarian this kind of end-around may seem, the Constitution doesnt forbid such a move, and its something the Trump campaign could pull off. Indeed, state Republican leaders have already casually indicated that theyd be all too happy to enable this kind of power grab. Ive mentioned it to them, and I hope theyre thinking about it too, Lawrence Tabas, chairman of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania, one of the swing states on which the 2020 race could hinge, told Gellman. It is one of the available legal options set forth in the constitution.
Disturbing as the prospect of bypassing the popular vote in GOP-controlled battlegrounds may be, its but one of several vulnerabilities in the electoral system Trump and his flunkies are trying to exploit this fall, ranging from complex legal fights to declaring absentee ballots fraudulent before theyve even been processed to the possibility likelihood? that the president will simply pronounce himself the winner before all votes are tallied. While Joe Biden and the Democrats are sounding increasingly loud alarms, it remains frustratingly unclear what they can do to prevent the country from plummeting into this looming crisis. A quick and overwhelming Biden victory would certainly help matters, but it's a tough proposition: While the Democrat retains a strong lead over his counterpart nationally, polls suggest the two are locked in tight races in several key states like Georgia, Iowa, Florida, and Arizona. The idea that typically deep-red states like Texas and Georgia are in play for Biden would seem to reflect the presidents challenging reelection prospectsbut those states all are controlled by Republican-majority legislatures, creating just the opening Trump needs to call the votes bogus and appoint electors that will decide in his favor.
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THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN IS REPORTEDLY PLOTTING AN ELECTION COUP TO "BYPASS" A BIDEN WIN (Original Post)
CousinIT
Sep 2020
OP
yardwork
(61,417 posts)1. That won't work. The states won't go along with that.
If Trump manages to hold onto the White House for another four years, the country could be so far gone in 2024 that something like that could happen. But not this year.
DSandra
(999 posts)3. What's stopping them?
Gore1FL
(21,030 posts)7. Pitchforks and torches.
If they thought the protests for George Floyd's killing were bad, they must know shooting the country in the back is going to have a worse response.
Srkdqltr
(6,127 posts)2. He says this shit to see all caps headlines. Stop it.
Squinch
(50,773 posts)4. People need to stop giving this air. It's playing into his hands.
WA-03 Democrat
(3,017 posts)5. He has never done anything in his life
Okay-Other than money laundering
cwydro
(51,308 posts)6. Barr is more scary than the buffoon.
This is a frightening time.