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Did the Joint Session of Congress Certifying the Electoral College Vote Do a Big Constitutional “Whoops”? Probably Not, But States Need to Work to Ensure the Integrity of their Elections

Posted on Friday, January 8, 2021
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by The Association of Mature American Citizens
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27 Comments
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As the Joint Session of Congress sat to act upon each state’s Electoral College votes, it was entirely clear the presumption was that each state’s Electors’ votes were in keeping with the Constitution’s requirement in Article II, Section 1, paragraph 2 of our Constitution on its plain language directive that “Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors…”    In implementing this requirement, the state legislatures essentially devolved this responsibility  through statute to the voters by providing how Electors will be chosen based on the popular vote.

As a result, neither:

  1. Did the state legislatures of the contested states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wisconsin intervene in and review and make correction to the very apparent widespread fraud in their elections, nor
  2.  Did the presiding officers in the U.S. Senate and House, in the face of the substantial evidence of “irregularities” like fraud, act to defer the certification of these states until investigated further.

For background, the National Conference of State Legislators describes Electoral College this way (https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/debating-the-electoral-college.aspx):

“As a compromise between electing the president by popular vote or letting Congress choose the chief executive, our Founders settled on the idea of using electors. Each state has as many electors as it has members of the U.S. House and Senate.  Together, these 538 electors make up the Electoral College, which has one purpose: to choose the president every four years.

“Electors generally are chosen by the political parties, though [state] laws governing the selection process vary by state. Today, 48 states allocate their electoral votes to the winner of the statewide vote—a winner-take-all approach. Maine and Nebraska give two electors to the winner of the statewide vote, then apportion one elector to the top vote-getter from each congressional district. A presidential candidate must get at least 270 Electoral College votes to win the office.”

As a result, the state legislatures have effectively removed themselves – unless they act to reclaim it in an election —  from being able to certify the integrity of the votes for President and to ensure that  that the Electors from their state represent the true vote, whether by overall majority or by Congressional District as in Maine and Nebraska.

In this connection,  the constitutionally-granted power of the state legislatures to choose electors is considered  absolute, noting  the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in McPherson v. Blacker, 146 U.S. 1, 35 (1892), in which the court held:

“This power is conferred upon the legislatures of the States by the Constitution of the United States, and cannot be taken from them or modified by their State constitutions. … Whatever provisions may be made by statute, or by the state constitution, to choose electors by the people, there is no doubt of the right of the legislature to resume the power at any time, for it can neither be taken away nor abdicated.”

 

Remember in the course of the 2000 presidential election, the Supreme Court in Bush v.Gore ruled members of the Florida legislature, reacting to significant election fraud, could appoint Electors for a particular candidate. As the majority put it, “The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for Electors for the President of the United States. . .”  When it comes to presidential elections, the state legislatures define how Electors are to be chosen.

Unfortunately, those seven disputed states’ legislatures—Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico— which had Trump-pledged electors attend and cast votes for the Trump–Pence ticket at the Dec. 14 Electoral College sessions, did not act to review the accuracy and integrity of the votes in their respective states in order to ensure that the correct Electors were representing their respective states.

AMAC and its members pushed hard in 5 of the states – Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona – urging their state legislators to pass “Reclamation Resolutions” so that the fraud laden outcomes of the presidential election could be correct by naming the Electors that should have been chosen in an honest election.  Many state legislators responded and called for action, but the legislative leaders of their states did not convene their bodies to act.

Back to Congress, it would seem to many, in the interest of a fair and true election, that the presiding officers of the Senate and House — President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House – should responded to the serious election fraud controversy and dispute in the 7 contested states and deferred certification.  There was genuine opportunity to request that the seven disputed states’ legislatures, which states had Trump-pledged electors attend and cast votes for the Trump–Pence ticket at the Dec. 14 Electoral College sessions, review the accuracy and integrity of the votes in their respective states – before the Congress could certify their Electoral Votes. That, of course, did not happen either.

Consequently, it seems to me that the presiding officers of the House and Senate “blinked” on the plain language of this Constitutional requirement and should have either delayed the work of the Joint Session until the disputed states’ election count issues were resolved or  invoke the 12th Amendment if the result caused both candidates to fall below the 270 electoral vote threshold.  Interestingly also, U.S. Supreme Court seems to be “blinking” also as it remains absent and refusing to review even cases in which it has original jurisdiction, such as suits between states and notably the recent Texas et al suit against Pennsylvania alleging the voter fraud in that state disenfranchised the votes of Texas and the other plaintiff states.

Going forward, at AMAC, we are committed to working with others to ensure the accountability and integrity of voting in our republic, and indeed to “true the vote” so that we can all have confidence that election fraud conspiracies in the states are rooted out and the cheaters held accountable.

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Craig Mellor
Craig Mellor
3 years ago

Republicans and Conservatives need to fight hard to maintain the Electoral College. Without it the Presidential elections will be decided by a hand full of States, or even large metropolitan areas such as LA or NYC!! And they really need to bring big tech down several notches and take away protections against Third-Party content under Section 230!! Big Tech is probably the biggest threat to our Constitutional freedoms and liberties and our Constitution in it’s original intent!! They are trying to silence all Conservative voices and opinions and actually anyone or any organization that does not agree with their ideology. They are one of the main forces behind the push towards a one-world government!

Lisa
Lisa
3 years ago

Sorry, but there was a HUGE Constitutional BREAK by allowing a proven fraudulent election to stand. We all saw the concrete & overwhelming evidence that all the battleground States BROKE their own election laws, at least I know I & everyone else who took the time to watch those hearings first hand, did. I also saw the forensic examination report on the Dominion Machines switching votes among many other fraudulent things they found those machines to be guilty of, among other things. I watched EVERY SINGLE Senate & Legislative hearing showing all kinds of solid evidence, eye witness testimony, data analysis evidence, mathematical impossibilities, counting ballots in secret (in one case, an actual video that recorded this!), poll watchers being consistently NOT allowed access to witnessing the count, and so much more. By the time I got done watching those hearings, I had NO DOUBT that this election was DEFINATELY RIGGED in many different ways. I thought for sure all that evidence would be looked at by law enforcement & that MANY people would be going to jail. This coming from someone who worked in law offices my entire life! I KNOW EVIDENCE when I see it. The fact that NO ONE enforced those laws that were broken or held ANYONE accountable for breaking those laws, was horrifying. The fact that I watched the mainstream news media outright LIE to the American people was also horrifying. For the first time in my life, I have COMPLETELY lost faith not only in our election process, but in the entire government as a whole. I’m left now with KNOWING just how CORRUPT our government & our mainstream news media really are. They obviously work as one unit right along with big tech who are all now using KNOWN Communist tactics AGAINST the American people who DIDN’T watch all that evidence come out themselves first hand as I did. This is NOT a free Country & we do NOT have free & fair elections anymore. I don’t know how long it’s been like this, but my eyes have been opened to this truth now & there’s nothing I can do to forget what I’ve seen. My ONLY hope now lies with Jesus. The Bible has told us about this world & how, until Jesus returns, it’s Satan’s domain. I have never seen that truth as CLEARLY as I do today. May God help us all.

notluf trebor
notluf trebor
3 years ago

With few exceptions, the members of our congress are far more interested in being elected and/or staying elected than keeping the promises made to gain either goal. Without term limits or an Article V convention of states, the decline of The United States of America will continue to historical conclusion. Beware America, those that refer to our nation as a “democracy” have never said the Pledge of Allegiance with commitment. Listen to the language when political issues are in play and see which Party’s propagandists regularly refer to the nation as a “democracy”. Words matter folks…we are a constitutional republic don’t let the Democratic Party (Note the name) convince you otherwise. The framers went to great lengths to see we were not a democracy. Beware the Do Gooders! The leftist will use them and language to destroy America, if we let them.

Rubs
Rubs
3 years ago

As my mother would say, we were whodoed!!!

Miranda
Miranda
3 years ago

Congress just gave the keys of our beloved Nation to the most corrupt Party. The mob party. Yes I am very sad about what happen las Wednesday at The Capitol. But the Democratic Party has no moral ground to teach the other side how to behave when they have condone their mob party behavior; including some member actively raising money to support the mob who were destroying business, burning houses and injured low enforcement. The left was happy to support them because was serving their purposes. Yes, The Democratic mob was already running our cities. Double standard, soo much hypocritical messages from the most corrupt party. Save your lectures people!

Charles P Busbey
Charles P Busbey
3 years ago

There were very few true patriots, Sen Ted Cruz was quite the stalwart, who wanted to INVESTIGATE the instances in which hundreds of sworn affadavits of poll workers charged illegal, improper, whatever actions they witnessed. It is appalling that every Democrat (no surprise, really) and many Republicans expressed no interest whatsoever in INVESTIGATING. In the case of Texas’ lawsuit alleging disenfranchisement, again, it is appalling that the Supreme Court refused to take the case based upon a lack of standing. If my state, Texas conducts a legal election yet another state cannot seem to do so, then why should we be bound by their lawlessness? That’s why I feel secession may be the only option.

J R
J R
3 years ago

The communist play book says to use the “DRIP DRIP” method to take over not the turn on the faucet at full blast..
They progress like invasive weeds, they send shoots of roots underground so they are not seen and spread many many tiny seeds where they can’t be seen and slowwwly they pop up and spread and before anyone realizes it they have taken over your garden.

Sean McEnroe
Sean McEnroe
3 years ago

It is time to create a new party. One that focuses on returning America to one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. It must be pro-America, pro-life, and pro-opportunity for US citizens. It needs to remove those in congress who plot against are country, insist on removing God from our institutions, and support the death mills of planned parenthood. Politicians must do what they promise and walk there talk.
People may have hated Trump but he did so many great things for our country. He did his very best to keep his promises. No president has done that in living memory. The Dems are spineless fools who sway their views with latest far left twitter feed babble from those who understand nothing about our national history, the cost of freedom, or how to rebuild our manufacturing base, roads, schools, airports and railroads. They want to spend their money on companies like Solyndra, gender bathroom changes, trying to figure what pronoun to use for themselves and others, renaming of forts and buildings, ruin medicare, slash social security and fund planned parenthood. Worse the Dems collude with China by letting the Biden’s sell sensitive dual use technology to the PLA of China and probably will soon allow Chinese aircraft carriers to dock in Long Beach. How is any of this supposed to benefit the average American family?

Mark Sobotka
Mark Sobotka
3 years ago

Sorry, but this approach is a reaction to a more systemic problem. Election officials that violated the election laws of their respective state must be identified, charged and prosecuted for those violations. They should further be prohibited from future positions related to the conduct of elections. Only when we have sent the message that these illegal actions will not be tolerated by law abiding citizens will we return to fair elections. Taking a piece meal approach to addressing election fraud such a suggested just emboldens the bad actors to find another way around the “patches” suggested.

Virginia Panicucci
Virginia Panicucci
3 years ago

Didn’t you it seemed staged when the box containing the electoral votes was so calmly carried out of the chamber as if it was rehearsed?????

Cheri
Cheri
3 years ago

This article isn’t completely honest. Going through the motions of accepting the electoral vote doesn’t mean the law and the constitution were upheld. States were trying to callback their certification of votes but the congressional body changed its course in not giving them nor “we the people” a voice.
In joining this organization, I was hoping for a bit more honesty in the news presented….I’ll be watching.

Ed Brugh
Ed Brugh
3 years ago

Why should the dems change anything. It worked this time and it will work next time. The Dominion counting machines seem to be here to stay. Once again we are One Nation Under Obama!

Rik
Rik
3 years ago

Forget about election integrity, states run by Progressively Communist Democratic Governors are NOT going to change and give Republicans a “fair” chance to win. Communists play to win and they will cheat to do so. They’ve already proven that! … This is NOT our founding fathers America anymore! … They will NOT give up power without a fight and they certainly WON’T FIGHT FAIR! … So what will Republicans do to guarantee election integrity? … ???

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