Trump can still win, unfortunately, and it’s Constitutional!
Trump can still win, unfortunately, and it’s Constitutional!
It is STILL not over — be wary, because Trump and the Republicans will try anything, especially if legal as a rationalization (albeit immoral) to keep power!
Trump tried the fraud angle and failed, repeatedly.
Trump tried the bribe angle, trying to get state legislatures in key states (or the governor or highest election official) to appoint their own electors rather than those award because Biden won the popular vote in that state. Michigan lawmakers traveled to the White House to hear such a pitch but cannot do so because the appointment of Electors is in Michigan law.
Trump tried numerous lawsuits and was put down in each and every one. One finally reached the US Supreme Court from Pennsylvania and was denied in one sentence this week.
So here is Trump and Republican’s last potential grasp of the straw.
Invalidating Electoral Votes in Congress
On January 6, 2021, The Congress meets in joint session to count the electoral votes. The President of the Senate is the presiding officer. If a Senator and a House member jointly submit an objection, each House would retire to its chamber to consider it. The President and Vice President must achieve a majority of electoral votes (270) to be elected. In the absence of a majority,
the House selects the President, and the Senate selects the Vice-President. If a State submits conflicting electoral votes to Congress, the two Houses acting concurrently may accept or reject them. If they do not concur, the votes of the electors certified by the Governor of the State would be counted in Congress.
So keep in mind, as Vice-President of the USA, Pence can and likely will oversee this joint session of Congress. All it takes a Senator and a House member to jointly submit an objection to any given states’ Electoral submission. The given states’ EC votes could be voided by Congress. If enough state EC votes are nullified and neither Biden nor Trump receive 270 EC votes, the election becomes “contested” and the Congress will then vote in the next president.
From the Constitution:
“But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice.”
Yes — each state gets ONE vote- the winner would be the candidate who gets at least 51 state votes over 49. As of the November election, Republicans have a majority of their state delegations in 26 states. Democrats in 24 states. Link below.
Each state’s delegation meets in their own caucus and votes. Mississippi has one Democrat vs five Republicans in the US House. Assuming a party-line vote, Mississippi as a state would cast their one vote for Trump. California, in contrast, currently has 44 Democrats vs nine Republicans and it is highly unlikely California will flip so their massive state gets, yes, ONE vote for Biden. But Michigan? We have 14 Congress-people split evenly between Dems and Reps at 7–7. Assuming party-line vote, our state would TIE and thus have NO vote for president, so the vote now will be the best of 49 with 25 states voting for the winner, Trump would get elected with the 26 state one-vote process!
The Senate picks the vice-president, and even if the two Democrats in Georgia win, the Senate will be deadlocked at 50–50 with Mike Pence presiding and casting a tie breaker vote for himself. (At question is, despite the Constitutional amendment tying the President and VP together in elections, would that be valid under this circumstance)?
Do they have the cajones? Do Republicans have the balls to dispute electoral results and throw the election into the House where the outcome is almost certainly result in a second Trump presidency? After all, it is LEGAL and CONSTITUTIONAL…. that would be sufficient rationalization in a Republicans mind, I suppose. One need only look at the link below regarding “trump score” compiled by 538.com to see how strong his allies are in each chamber. Four Senators score 90% plus Trump support with another 14 at over 80%. (Disgustingly, Democrat Joe Manchin rates4th in the Senate at 90.6%… talk about a DINO). In the House, Tom Marino of PA-12 rates 100% followed by another 85–90 Republicams whose support rates over 90%. (again, another disgusting Democrat, Collin Peterson from MN-7 was in the 90% range). So if you think a Biden presidency is in the bag, hold your breath until after January 6th.
https://www.270towin.com/2020-house-election/state-by-state/consensus-2020-house-forecast
https://www.archives.gov/files/electoral-college/state-officials/presidential-election-brochure.pdf
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript
