FEC commissioner responds to Trump: 'We do not "get rid of" ballots'

[brooklynite]

Source: The Hill

Federal Election Commission Commissioner Ellen Weintraub on Wednesday said the U.S. does not “get rid of” ballots in response to comments made by President Trump as he refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses in November.

“In case anyone is unclear on the concept, in the United States of America, we do not ‘get rid of’ ballots. We count them,” Weintraub, a Democrat, tweeted, in response to Trump’s comments.

“Counting the ballots – *all* the ballots – is the way we determine who leads our country after our elections. The only way,” Weintraub added.



Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/517924-fec-commissioner-responds-to-trump-we-do-not-get-rid-of-ballots

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Is it me, or does there seem to be a pushback on Trump's comments?

[jorgevlorgan]

1. Not just you.

And his weakness is showing more than ever.

[onetexan]

28. spot on. The cornered dog is desperate as heck to avoid paying for his crimes, so he's resorting to

scorched earth methods of holding on to power.

[lagomorph777]

36. He'd be smarter to flee. This will not end well for him if he stays here.

[onetexan]

38. I've said that wld be the Con's plan B -1st flight out to moscow

[lagomorph777]

39. Evil AF1

[NoRoadUntravelled]

2. There does seem to be a pushback on his comments.

I'm so glad to see it. Maybe people are understanding that it's now or never.

[PatSeg]

13. Shoot, even Putin

at least pretends to count the ballots. Trump doesn't even pretend he is president of a democracy anymore.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

14. Ha! True, Putin does give a nod to the ballots.

I'm convinced tRump believed the President of the United States is the boss of everything. Completely clueless about our government and our country.

[PatSeg]

17. I agree

Trump knows nothing about government. He decided to run the country the way he ran his businesses, where he made all the decisions, all the time. Also, he behaves like the spoiled child he is, as he wants what he wants when he wants it and he won't let laws or congress or courts or even elections get in his way.

Meanwhile, the RNC and the Trump campaign are encouraging voters to vote by mail in red states. He is for mail-in ballots except when he is against them.

[BigmanPigman]

20. Yup, glad to see it.

I finally was able to read the Atlantic article (had hit a paywall). It is pretty thorough and realistic. It is providing info so citizens can stay informed. I hope it is waking people up to what the fucking moron and GOP may still do to steal the election. It will piss people off (like replacing RBG) and motivate them to vote and get others to vote.

[obamanut2012]

30. IF you can afford a digital subscription to The Atlantic

I highly recommend it.

[BigmanPigman]

40. I wish I could...

I'd get The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, New Yorker, etc. but I am already past my financial limit this year with political campaign donations and other subscriptions (NYT and WaPo and Time). I am on a strict budget (health care costs are eating me alive, even with the ACA...multiple illnesses). I am glad I was finally able to figure out the pay wall issue.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

32. The Atlantic has been a pretty reliable and worthy source.

I'm going to hang on to your thought about it motivating people to vote and to get others to vote. It's a good one and seems to be happening already.

[elleng]

3. 'Pushback?' A direct refutation.

Bravo, Commissioner Weintraub.

[BootinUp]

4. brief and to the point k&r

[sheshe2]

5. Trump is grasping at straws's.

I am waiting for the one that breaks his back.

I’m done with that racist piece of shit that is trying to kill America.

[Tommymac]

10. The Romney who is meekly going to vote for RBG's successor now?

Sorry, Romney's pushback don't mean SHIT.

He's a fucking tool just like all the rest of the sorry ass Republican's AND their sychopahntic supporters and enablers.

Go away Mitt.

[oldsoftie]

23. So you dont want his support for a normal transition. Ok.

[lagomorph777]

37. Tilting the court to help Trump steal the election, is not support for a normal transition.

It is support for a stolen election, not merely a stolen seat.

[usaf-vet]

25. He does realize that if they pull it off and fill RBG seat BEFORE the election. That his 2024....

.... run for POTUS will be D.O.A. the moment SCOTUS kills the AFFORDABLE CARE ACT and Roe v Wade.

If he really intends to run in 2024 he better demonstrate that he is NOT a typical I don't give a S**T! about women's choice and their family's healthcare.

Talk about committing political suicide.

[Blue Owl]

7. Little Donny isn't quite ready for the grown-ups table yet

n/t

[C_U_L8R]

8. An autocrat threatens elections and the electorate

Wouldn't the UN step in by now?

[vapor2]

9. YES, pushback from the FEC

AND Mitt Romney. Hope more come out to defend our democracy

[Duppers]

21. Mitt took back his pushback...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/09/22/trump-biden-supreme-court-live-updates/

[oldsoftie]

24. No he didnt. That article refers to the SCOTUS pick not the vote.

[obamanut2012]

31. no he didn't

he just said it

[patphil]

11. Trump's words can be use to convict him of conspiracy to defraud the 2020 election.

[RockRaven]

12. FEC is 100% impotent b/c they don't have a quorum b/c Trump has withheld nominations

and he has done so on purpose to keep them impotent. IIRC, that is.

[Thekaspervote]

16. The FEC may be impotent. Think SCOTUS is going to go along with tossing out ballots?

Legal ballots that meet all the criteria...don’t think so

[RockRaven]

18. I think that SCOTUS makes rulings on matters of law not matters of fact, so

whether or not ballots are legal gets buried under/obviated by contrived and obviously pretextual arguments about procedure.

That is what happened in 2000. If you don't think they'll do it again, and even more overtly without hesitation, you are underestimating their mendacity.

[Thekaspervote]

29. SCOTUS would be asked if it is lawful for state legislators to throw out state election law

Overturn the will of the voter and install loyal electors in an election where there was no question who won. That Would be at the heart of the case.

2000 was an entirely different scenario, if you don’t think so, reread what happened.

SCOTUS, conservative as they may be will not give up their power, to a wanna be tin pot dictator which would be what they would be doing!

This recent SCOTUS ruling is on faithless electors, but addresses this very issue. Look about half way down

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/07/14/supreme-courts-faithless-electors-decision-validates-case-for-the-national-popular-vote-interstate-compact/

[not_the_one]

35. SCOTUS says that elections are the purview of the states, and state can do whatever they want.

So MOST states are controlled by republican legislatures, who have been put there through the use of gerrymandered districts, even though a majority (sometime large) of the voters may have voted for democratic candidates, and SCOTUS says "NO PROBLEM", do whatever you want, 'cause this is YOUR ballgame. EVEN if it is unfair and unequal in its results.

This setup allows for permanent control of the legislature by the minority party.

You are pinning your hopes on THIS SCOTUS?

This is yet another nail in the coffin of "one person = one vote" myth, officially and permanently DOA for presidential elections due to the EC.

[Thekaspervote]

41. The 2 states in question that he has "approached" are WI & PA

Don’t know about WI, but PA law says any changes to election law has to be signed off by the gov which is a democrat

Pinning my hope on this SCOTUS? Should it end up there Biden would win hands down. SCOTUS would have to agree to completely throw the election, as there argument is that even thou the people voted for candidate A, we the legislators want candidate B. No..They will not cede their power to a wanna be tin pot dictator which is what they would be doing. They’re just a power greedy as mcturtle.

[Hekate]

15. Kick!

[aeromanKC]

19. Well, except in 2000

“In case anyone is unclear on the concept, in the United States of America, we do not ‘get rid of’ ballots. We count them,” Weintraub, a Democrat, tweeted, in response to Trump’s comments.

Hopefully we have learned from that injustice and debacle!!!

BTW: The GOP stole 2 SCOTUS seats as a result (granted they were not until the 2nd term and the Diebold stolen votes in 2004)

[Salviati]

22. There better be pushback against his comments. He's advocating for a coup.

All republicans should be put on the record whether they support trumps proposal for a coup if he loses this election.

[CrispyQ]

26. I have to keep reminding myself that the Con is historically unpopular.

Never in modern history have we had such an unpopular president. He has not grown his base one bit and to a lot of people who weren't very political in 2016, the Con was an unknown. Not anymore. Everyone but his base sees how deficient he is in character, integrity, and honor.

[bucolic_frolic]

27. Governors need to step up

They are responsible for election apparatus in their states. Counting the ballots is a mainstay, even if they're trying to suppress here and there. Counting is Job One, and is overseen by bipartisan personnel to keep an eye on each other for the most part.

[noneof_theabove]

33. standard business for the idiot

this is part of his MOM [method, opportunity, means]

crying out "Michael, make the nasty ballots go away, NOW".

[Marcuse]

34. Weintraub notwithstanding, the Federal Election Commission has been assimilated.

The head of the Federal Election Commission chastised Catholic bishops during a pair of interviews this week, accusing church hierarchy of “hiding behind” their nonprofit status and declaring that this year’s election amounts to a “spiritual war” that threatens the country’s “Christian moral principles.”

FEC Chairman James E. “Trey” Trainor III made the remarks during an interview released Wednesday by Church Militant, a controversial conservative Catholic media outlet, and repeated them in a separate phone interview with Religion News Service.

Trainor, who is Catholic and attends Mass weekly, was asked by Church Militant founder Michael Voris about a priest who recently published a video in which he declares that no Catholic can be a Democrat. The video went viral.

Trainor, a Republican lawyer who was nominated to the FEC by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate in May, also told Voris that a 2017 executive order signed by Trump frees churches to endorse political candidates.

But FEC Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub disputed Trainor’s claim that Trump’s executive order allows faith groups to ignore the “Johnson Amendment,” a provision of U.S. tax law that bars nonprofits from endorsing political candidates.

“My colleague is not correct,” Weintraub, a Democrat who has chaired the commission three times since joining it in 2002, said in a statement.


[link:https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/fec-chair-trainor-religion-catholic/2020/09/18/d34c643c-f9d6-11ea-89e3-4b9efa36dc64_story.html|