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PaperclipPerfector  7mo ago (text post)   2714 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 13, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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What's the Motte's perspective on why Trump's "fake" (contingent) electors scheme not a great deal? Truthfully, I'm not very familiar with the US electoral system, so I'd be grateful for any and all corrections.

As far as I understand, this is not the first time when an alternative slate of electors was submit - 1960's Hawaii election seems to be another example and it became a precedent of when it's permissible to submit an alternate slate. From what I'm seeing, though, the differences between this example and Trump's scheme are

  • The election hasn't been certified yet in Hawaii, while it has been certified in all of the states for which alternate elector slates were submitted.
  • There was legitimate uncertainty who won - famously, the difference in Hawaii was 110 votes, while Trump's lawsuits were predicated on widespread fraud during the election. Apparently, Eastman knew that those lawsuits are dead in the water. In this case, I'm not entirely sure what's the steelman case for Pence not certifying the election, and what was the purpose of the alternate slates (other than to overturn the election, that is)

The Kennedy electors from Hawaii were illegally chosen and illegally counted. Article II Section 1 of the Constitution:

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

The "time of chusing the electors" ended with the safe harbor deadline on December 13, 1960, at which point only the Nixon electors were certified. Thus, they were the only electors constitutionally chosen. It was Nixon's mistake to side with the spirit of the law (who won the popular vote) instead of the letter of the law (who the constitutionally appointed electors were) and count the Kennedy electors.

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