Protesters hindered legal debate over the election – Orange County Register

It is not true that electoral fraud never happens. The Heritage Foundation has a database of more than 1,300 electoral fraud cases and how they were resolved. Investigations can take years. For example, in July, the U.S. Department of Justice issued an indictment to the grand jury in a case of alleged ballot box filling in the Pennsylvania, 2014, 2015 and 2016 elections.

When states conduct elections for federal positions, there are constitutional safeguards on the front end to ensure that all states conduct elections for federal positions in a transparent manner. Specifically, the Constitution states that the “time, place and manner” of these elections must be directed by state legislatures.

In the 2020 presidential election, several states made late changes to electoral laws that did not pass the legislature. You would have heard a lot more about it on Wednesday if it weren’t for the horrific Capitol uprising. Still, part of it was heard.

“It’s time to get back to what our Founding Fathers said was the voter selection process; it’s legislatures in public view, not behind closed doors, not in smoke-filled rooms, not intimidating anyone who can give you a better decision, ”said Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise.

Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs cited a court-ordered change in his state’s voter registration deadline, which the legislature has been in effect for 30 years, after “a group filed a lawsuit demanding that Arizona election officials fail to comply. the term “. Biggs said that the “judicial usurpation” of the legislature’s authority resulted in 32,000 “illegally cast votes” in the 2020 presidential election in Arizona.

“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court unilaterally extended the deadline for receiving absentee ballots and mail,” said Congressman Andy Harris of Maryland. “Does anyone dispute this here? You say the legislature did that? No, it doesn’t matter, it says it was the court. This is a violation. Harris also cited the Secretary of State’s decision to “discard” signature authentication requirements for postal ballots.

South Carolina deputy Ralph Norman compared the latest changes to “moving the goal posts after the kick, when the ball is in the air”.

More than 100 Republican deputies and 13 American senators planned to make legal objections to voter counts from six states where electoral laws were changed by non-legislators, which would have allowed up to 12 hours of debate and votes to accept or reject the objections. This is not betrayal or sedition, it is the legal process for verifying electoral votes for president.

Before Wednesday, the number of House members and senators willing to accept objections had grown steadily, despite Washington’s often hyperbolic criticism, an indication that voters at home voiced their concerns aloud.

It would not have changed the outcome of the election, because it was certain that there would never be a majority vote in the House or Senate, let alone both, to reject voters from any state. However, the American people had a legal right to hear legal objections to the counting of electoral votes from states that made non-legislative changes to voter registration and ballot return times, signature verification requirements, vote collection methods and other related procedures to ensure a verified election that the public can have confidence in.

That process had barely begun on Wednesday, when a crowd of Trump supporters, urged by the president to believe that there was a chance that Vice President Mike Pence and Republican lawmakers could or would reverse the election result, illegally invaded the Capitol and invaded the corridors, chambers and offices.

Before the doors were thrown open, Ohio deputy Jim Jordan was speaking on the floor of the House in support of the objection to counting Arizona’s electoral votes. “Eighty million Americans, 80 million of our fellow citizens, Republicans and Democrats, have doubts about this election, and 60 million people, 60 million Americans, think it has been stolen,” he said.

Since many of the questionable changes in electoral laws were temporary – made during the pandemic and justified by officials as necessary for public health – there will be a decision moment between now and the next election. State legislatures have the opportunity to make new procedures into law or not. Voters in each state will have an opportunity to tell their representatives whether they have confidence in their elections or not.