The potential chaos of Election Day
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How could that happen?
The Constitution left some ambiguities and holes in the mechanics of the Electoral College. Lawrence Douglas, a law professor at Amherst College, explains how this could lead to an electoral nightmare in a new book, Will He Go? Trump and the Looming Election Meltdown in 2020. Let's say the election comes down to a single state that's barely won by Biden, but whose state legislature is controlled by Republicans. Michigan could be such a state. The legislature could back Trump's claim that he was denied victory by fraud, and move to give him the state's electoral votes. Under another scenario, the legislature and the state's Democratic governor could send competing electoral certificates to Congress, which tallies the final Electoral College vote. It would then be up to Congress to decide which certificate was valid — and if a House controlled by one party and a Senate controlled by the other disagree, "there is basically no way to resolve the dispute," Douglas said. "There's a Chernobyl-like defect built into our system of presidential elections that really could lead to a meltdown."Then we need to close that loophole.
Regardless of the circumstances, if Trump loses a close election, it is quite possible he will insist he's the legitimate president and refuse to leave the White House.
That part is where TDS takes over from a reasoned legitimate concern. There is no way he can simply refuse to leave the WH without a military coup. Which is not a legitimate concern. Or so I dare say. If there exists a legal loophole which would not require a military coup then by all means let's close it.
@Horace said in The potential chaos of Election Day:
There is no way he can simply refuse to leave the WH without a military coup;
There is no way he can simply refuse to leave the WH without a military escort.
FIFY.
What is aggravating is that every reference you read about his possibly refusing to leave is speculative. What if-what if-what if.
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Who has faith in our voting systems?
A few anecdotal cases of fraud could grab the headlines and drive public opinion.
If Mr. Trump cries Fraud! the seeds of TDS have already been planted. Even if fraud is obvious the conclusion that he is crazy has and ready been made.
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I appreciate that someone took the time to think through loopholes which would not require a military coup but the level of special pleading involved is difficult to determine. What's not difficult to determine is how much fun such thought exercises are for people who hate Donald Trump.
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@jon-nyc said in The potential chaos of Election Day:
I spelled out that precise scenario as a reasonable concern, a couple weeks ago.
Sorry, missed it.
I thought this part was kind of cool, I didn't know that (although it's logical).
At noon on Jan. 20, 2021, the Secret Service and the military are constitutionally mandated to shift their allegiance to the declared winner
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How could that happen?
The Constitution left some ambiguities and holes in the mechanics of the Electoral College. Lawrence Douglas, a law professor at Amherst College, explains how this could lead to an electoral nightmare in a new book, Will He Go? Trump and the Looming Election Meltdown in 2020. Let's say the election comes down to a single state that's barely won by Biden, but whose state legislature is controlled by Republicans. Michigan could be such a state. The legislature could back Trump's claim that he was denied victory by fraud, and move to give him the state's electoral votes. Under another scenario, the legislature and the state's Democratic governor could send competing electoral certificates to Congress, which tallies the final Electoral College vote. It would then be up to Congress to decide which certificate was valid — and if a House controlled by one party and a Senate controlled by the other disagree, "there is basically no way to resolve the dispute," Douglas said. "There's a Chernobyl-like defect built into our system of presidential elections that really could lead to a meltdown."Then we need to close that loophole.
Regardless of the circumstances, if Trump loses a close election, it is quite possible he will insist he's the legitimate president and refuse to leave the White House.
That part is where TDS takes over from a reasoned legitimate concern. There is no way he can simply refuse to leave the WH without a military coup. Which is not a legitimate concern. Or so I dare say. If there exists a legal loophole which would not require a military coup then by all means let's close it.
@Horace said in The potential chaos of Election Day:
There is no way he can simply refuse to leave the WH without a military coup. Which is not a legitimate concern. Or so I dare say. If there exists a legal loophole which would not require a military coup then by all means let's close it.
I agree. A President may call fraud, but I would not think that the military would back him, nor do I think that most of the people associated with him would stand their ground either.
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@Horace said in The potential chaos of Election Day:
There is no way he can simply refuse to leave the WH without a military coup. Which is not a legitimate concern. Or so I dare say. If there exists a legal loophole which would not require a military coup then by all means let's close it.
I agree. A President may call fraud, but I would not think that the military would back him, nor do I think that most of the people associated with him would stand their ground either.
@taiwan_girl said in The potential chaos of Election Day:
A President may call fraud, but I would not think that the military would back him . . .
That's why the recent mass opining by the generals. They were floating that very message, IMO.
