{"id":121594,"date":"2024-11-03T13:03:17","date_gmt":"2024-11-03T06:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=121594"},"modified":"2024-11-03T13:03:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T06:03:17","slug":"how-republicans-could-help-trump-steal-the-election-from-harris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=121594","title":{"rendered":"How Republicans Could Help Trump Steal the Election from Harris"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/donald-trump\/\" id=\"auto-tag_donald-trump\" data-tag=\"donald-trump\">Donald Trump<\/a> and his allies in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/congress\/\" id=\"auto-tag_congress\" data-tag=\"congress\">Congress<\/a> and election offices throughout the country have a variety of tools to dismantle the will of voters and install Trump as president \u2014 Tuesday\u2019s election results be damned.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tMuch of the nation was shocked when attempts to overturn the 2020 election culminated in a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. And while that specific scenario is unlikely to play out again this Jan. 6, the nation and world could be stunned once more at the lengths to which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/republicans\/\" id=\"auto-tag_republicans\" data-tag=\"republicans\">Republicans<\/a> may go to undo a potential win by Vice President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/kamala-harris\/\" id=\"auto-tag_kamala-harris\" data-tag=\"kamala-harris\">Kamala Harris<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tCongress tried to close some loopholes that Trump and House and Senate Republicans tried to exploit four years ago, but danger still remains. Pro-Trump Republicans still have several paths to overturn the election, should Vice President Kamala Harris prevail at the polls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tMeanwhile, a diverse and bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, election law experts, retired judges, and former federal officials have been war-gaming scenarios \u2014 both in conjunction with the Harris campaign and independently \u2014 to prepare for a Republican-led constitutional coup that could come to a climax again in the halls of Congress four years after the insurrection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThis informal coalition is focusing on four scenarios: widespread certification refusals by county election officials, disruptions to voting and canvassing by right-wing activists, disruptions or interference at or by state legislatures to the work of the Electoral College, and refusals by Republican members of Congress to certify a Harris win.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cThere are all of these areas where we\u2019ve seen pressure points, and they see how far they can go,\u201d a Harris campaign advisor tells <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cOur processes have held up at every turn. Certification is undefeated as far as elections go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe advisor adds that the Harris campaign is looking at \u201ceverything from votes being put into machines to hand on the Bible\u201d on Inauguration Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ editors-pick-module lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tRep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a constitutional scholar himself, declined to discuss specific Democratic plans to combat a potential coup effort from Republicans.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cI\u2019m going to have to answer you in an elusive way,\u201d he tells <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cI\u2019m reticent to talk about the different scenarios I\u2019m trying to think through because the last thing I want to do is give them any ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe path to overturning the election begins at the local level, where county election officials who support Trump\u2019s lies about election fraud can refuse to certify results, as they\u2019ve done more than a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-features\/election-deniers-refuse-certify-chaos-2024-1234988747\/\">dozen times in eight states since 2020<\/a>. Pro-Trump protesters could also hold up voting itself or the counting of votes, as they tried to do in Philadelphia, Detroit, and Arizona\u2019s Maricopa County in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIf counties refuse to certify results, or protests or attacks prevent results from being certified, it could cause governors to miss a key deadline \u2014 Dec. 11 \u2014 for their own task of certifying statewide results. This would open up myriad scenarios for congressional Republicans to try to steal the election for Trump on Jan. 6, 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tGovernors and state legislatures could also try to rig the election for Trump by approving fake slates of electors for the Electoral College, as some states did in 2020, or by introducing rules that dictate how their state\u2019s electors must vote, as a right-wing congressman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2024-election\/far-right-congressman-suggests-nc-legislature-consider-handing-elector-rcna177337\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">recently suggested<\/a>. Protesters could also disrupt slates of electors and prevent them from voting for Harris, should she win the popular vote in a given state.<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tFinally, Congress will again gather on Jan. 6 to certify Electoral College votes, opening up a legal minefield of scenarios that Republicans might exploit to overturn a win by Harris, according to Raskin. These efforts would likely involve hyping baseless allegations of fraud to claim that the election results are illegitimate.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tShort of a landslide win by Trump, experts and elected officials across the political spectrum anticipate that next week\u2019s election results will be contested. Sources close to Trump have said he\u2019ll claim victory \u2014 regardless of actual results \u2014 as soon as election night, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-features\/trump-election-rigged-slow-vote-count-2024-1235133890\/\">as <em>Rolling Stone <\/em>previously reported<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tCourt battles over GOP efforts to purge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-features\/trump-republicans-voter-purge-immigrants-non-citizens-1235132883\/\">voter rolls<\/a> in swing states, the handling of mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania, whether Georgia\u2019s MAGA election officials <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-features\/trump-how-georgia-officials-wrote-rules-deny-election-results-1235089385\/\">can arbitrarily refuse<\/a> to certify election results, and more will only add to the chaos between Election Day and Jan. 6, when Congress will again meet to officially designate the next president.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cThe way I see it is that Trump and his followers are not running a classic political campaign where they\u2019re engaged in canvassing, phone-banking, get-out-the-vote efforts of voter mobilization. They are rather preparing to attack the electoral results and the electoral process,\u201d Raskin says. \u201cSo, on the Democratic side, we have to go out and win the election first, and then, we have to defend the election.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tTRUMP AND REPUBLICANS have repeatedly refused to say they\u2019ll concede to Harris if she wins the election. He has said Democrats \u201ccheat like hell\u201d and is already baselessly complaining about election fraud.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe former president and close allies in the party have been laying the groundwork, state by state, in the years since his 2020 election loss to corrupt electoral processes in ways they believe will benefit them. One example is Trump\u2019s involvement in a fight over processing mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania. As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-features\/trump-election-rigged-slow-vote-count-2024-1235133890\/\"><em>Rolling Stone<\/em><\/a> recently reported, Trump personally called GOP allies in the Keystone State to demand they block efforts from Democrats to allow mail-in ballots to be processed before Election Day. Sources say Trump intends to cite the slow count of mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania as evidence that the election is being \u201crigged\u201d or \u201cstolen\u201d from him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAnother is Georgia, which the Trump team has called their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-features\/trump-georgia-laboratory-rig-2024-1235034510\/\">\u201claboratory\u201d<\/a> for tweaking the electoral system to their advantage. The Georgia State Election Board has been taken over by Trump loyalists, who passed a series of rules designed to slow the counting of votes and empower MAGA election officials to refuse to certify the results if they feel like it. (Certifying election results has long been a mandatory, ministerial task, not a discretionary one, election experts and Democrats say.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tWhile judges have blocked those rules, election denier groups have, in recent weeks, begun to pressure county election officials to refuse to certify results. Following the election, the State Election Board could amplify unfounded fraud claims. In recent weeks, even Republican Gov. Brian Kemp \u2014 long a target of Trump\u2019s rage over his refusal to back his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results \u2014 has come into the fold to vocally support the former president.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe Trump campaign and Republican National Committee \u2014 both fueled by the Trump-era iterations of election denialism, voter crackdowns, and a heads-I-win-tails-you-lose philosophy for elections \u2014 have long prepared for chaotic scenarios in which the 2024 presidential contest ends up being so close in such a small number of states that Trump and the GOP would feel compelled to force a victory, whether he actually won or not.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tTrump-aligned lawyers and officials refuse to admit \u2014 even off the record \u2014 that they are gearing up for potential situations in which Trump would want them to steal an election. Or, at least, \u201csteal\u201d isn\u2019t the term of art they\u2019d use. However, in <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>\u2019s recent conversations with a wide array of attorneys, prominent MAGA activists, GOP lawmakers, and other political Trump confidants, it is crystal clear that they are exploring virtually all gameplans, and are willing to fight dirty, especially if the margins are historically tight and they sense an opportunity to seize power.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cOf course all legal options are on the table,\u201d says a lawyer close to the former president who is advising Team Trump on possible post-election strategies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tMany of those options end in Congress, where House Speaker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/mike-johnson\/\" id=\"auto-tag_mike-johnson\" data-tag=\"mike-johnson\">Mike Johnson<\/a> (R-La.), who helped lead House Republicans\u2019 efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, is perceived as a key ally in efforts to overturn the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/2024-election\/\" id=\"auto-tag_2024-election\" data-tag=\"2024-election\">2024 election<\/a> \u2014 and that was before Trump mentioned a \u201clittle secret,\u201d that only he and Johnson know, at his Madison Square Garden rally last week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cI think with our little secret we\u2019re going to do really well with the House, right?\u201d Trump said. \u201cOur little secret is having a big impact. He and I have a little secret \u2014 we\u2019ll tell you what it is when the race is over.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAs <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> reported last year, a major reason Trump supported Johnson\u2019s ascension to House speaker is that Johnson is \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-features\/trump-election-plans-corrupt-voter-registration-eric-eagleai-1234920083\/\">good on elections<\/a>.\u201d In recent weeks, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation, the former and perhaps future president has privately reiterated to other Republicans in his orbit that Johnson \u201cdid the right thing\u201d during Trump\u2019s last coup attempt, and that he can be trusted to have Trump\u2019s back if Democrats try to \u2014 in Trump\u2019s conspiracist vision \u2014 \u201ccheat\u201d again on Election Day 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tFor his part, Johnson has demurred about plans to contest a Harris win. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/10\/28\/us\/politics\/trump-secret-house-republicans-panic.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">statement to <em>The<\/em> <em>New York Times<\/em><\/a>, Johnson didn\u2019t elaborate on what his \u201clittle secret\u201d with Trump might be.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cBy definition, a secret is not to be shared \u2014 and I don\u2019t intend to share this one,\u201d Johnson said. On Friday, Johnson <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/house\/4958318-mike-johnson-donald-trump-secret\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">claimed<\/a> the secret relates to \u201cone of our tactics on get-out-the-vote.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAsked by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/11\/01\/politics\/video\/mike-johnson-election-2024-manu-raju-lead-digvid\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">CNN<\/a> on Friday whether he has spoken with Trump about not accepting the 2024 election results if Trump wins, Johnson said, \u201cOf course not. I\u2019ve taken an oath to uphold the Constitution. We are going to do our job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tPressed then whether he would accept the results if Harris wins, Johnson said, \u201cYes,\u201d adding: \u201cI\u2019m going to qualify this \u2014 and this is going to make everybody freak out again \u2014 if it\u2019s a free and fair election. I\u2019m saying the exact same thing that Jamie Raskin is saying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAFTER POLLS CLOSE, it will be up to local election officials to certify results in their counties. Since 2020, rogue officials who support Trump\u2019s election lies have refused to certify results at least 30 times in eight states, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-features\/election-deniers-refuse-certify-chaos-2024-1234988747\/\"><em>Rolling Stone <\/em>and American Doom\u2019s ongoing analysis<\/a> of local election denial efforts. The Brennan Center lists 50 counties that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/articles\/the-counties-that-may-try-not-to-certify-the-2024-election\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">pose a risk of certification refusal<\/a> thanks to the role of election conspiracists in those locales.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIf counties fail to certify results \u2014 either because election officials vote against certification, or the canvassing process is interrupted by protests or attacks \u2014 it could cause governors to miss a deadline to submit statewide results to the Electoral College no later than Dec. 11. The deadline is mandated under the Electoral Count Reform Act (ECRA), a bipartisan law passed in 2022 in the wake of Trump\u2019s effort to overturn the election.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe statewide results come in the form of documents called \u201ccertificates of ascertainment,\u201d which list the electors for each state. Those electors are designated by the Democratic and Republican parties, and in all but two states \u2014 Maine and Nebraska \u2014 the electors must vote for the candidate who wins the popular vote. Should governors fail \u2014 or refuse \u2014 to sign certificates of ascertainment confirming a Harris win, the documents can be signed by panels of three federal judges under a provision of the ECRA.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tSome secretaries of state and attorneys general have threatened county officials who refuse to certify results with various penalties, including criminal charges, like those filed against an election official in Cochise County who refused to certify results in 2022 and has since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2024\/oct\/21\/peggy-judd-pleads-guilty-arizona-election-denier\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">pleaded guilty<\/a> for the crime. State officials and election experts also say that writs of mandamus \u2014 a legal order demanding officials perform duties mandatory under state law \u2014 could be used to force county election officials to certify results.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tStill, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-features\/pennsylvania-election-deniers-officials-trump-conspiracies-1235146332\/\">dozens of election deniers<\/a> serving as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-features\/trump-swing-state-officials-election-deniers-1235069692\/\">local election officials in the swing states<\/a>, the danger of mass certification refusals remains.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cBoth the pro and con of our election system is that it\u2019s decentralized,\u201d the Brennan Center\u2019s Wendy Weiser tells <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cWhen we see attacks on certification they\u2019re rather piecemeal. If it happened en masse, it would have to be remarkably coordinated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIn the event governors miss the Dec. 11 deadline to file certificates of ascertainment, House Republicans could object to Electoral College votes \u2014 which is to say, states\u2019 election results \u2014 on the basis that they were not \u201cregularly given\u201d or \u201clawfully certified,\u201d as outlined in the Electoral Count Act of 1887, the ECRA\u2019s predecessor.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tMembers of Congress can reject electoral votes \u201cwhen they agree that such vote or votes have not been so regularly given by electors whose appointment has been [lawfully] certified,\u201d the 1887 law states. The ECRA does not explicitly change the definition of \u201cregularly given\u201d and \u201clawfully certified,\u201d but drafting language for the 2022 law did clarify that the objections cannot be made over claims of fraud \u2014 like those already being made by Trump and others. If members of Congress make \u201cregularly given\u201d or \u201clawfully certified\u201d over election fraud claims, experts say those objections would be improper \u2014 as it was Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) filed a \u201cregularly given\u201d objection that kicked off congressional Republicans\u2019 attempts to overturn the election in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tBut first, the Electoral College will meet on Dec. 17 to cast their vote for either Harris or Trump \u2014 whichever candidate, in every state but Maine and Nebraska, wins the popular vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tTwo right-wing figures have already suggested either disrupting or rigging the meeting of electors on Dec. 17 to favor Trump. Last week, Ivan Raiklin \u2014 a former Green Beret, current attorney, and self-appointed \u201cSecretary of Retribution\u201d for a second Trump term \u2014 suggested that Republican voters pressure members of Pennsylvania\u2019s legislature to <a href=\"https:\/\/lancasteronline.com\/news\/politics\/self-proclaimed-secretary-of-retribution-calls-for-pro-trump-protest-at-empty-pa-capitol\/article_cb332e82-9222-11ef-838c-e323a5e63077.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">install electors<\/a> who will vote, no matter what, for Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tRaiklin and Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), the new chair of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-features\/trump-ivan-raiklin-retribution-north-carolina-electoral-votes-1235140241\/\">have separately suggested<\/a> legislators in North Carolina should require electors to vote for Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2024\/10\/25\/andy-harris-north-carolina-electoral-college\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">regardless of the popular vote<\/a>. Legislatures in both states aren\u2019t set to meet until after the Dec. 25 deadline for the Electoral College to file its votes to Congress.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tDisruptions of electors performing their duty to award Electoral College votes to Kamala Harris, should she win in a given state, remain a concern, says Rex VanMiddlesworth, a former teaching fellow in constitutional law at Harvard University who has been consulting with state and local election officials through his work with the bipartisan group, Keep Our Republic. Electors must meet at state capitols to carry out this task.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cThe one good thing about having made it through 2021, officials are very concerned, they are wargaming, they are doing table-top exercises, and there is much coordination between law enforcement and election officials to be prepared to respond to anything that anybody can dream up,\u201d VanMiddlesworth said during a press briefing on congressional certification held in mid-October. He noted that in one of the states coordinating with Keep Our Republic, the governor can single-handedly designate any location to be the state capitol, allowing Electoral College members to meet virtually anywhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tBut \u201cin some cases, it\u2019s an open question\u201d whether the state capitol can be officially re-designated to another location in the event of protests that interrupt meetings of presidential electors, VanMiddlesworth says. \u201cWe\u2019d rather not get there, so we hope that they secure the state capitol(s).\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAfter the electors vote \u2014 ideally uninterrupted by protests or attacks \u2014 the electors must file their votes to Congress by Dec. 25. Congress then reconvenes on Jan. 3. And that\u2019s when the real steal could happen, Democrats fear.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tON JAN. 6, Vice President Harris, acting as President of the Senate, will open votes from the slates of Electoral College electors and ask Congress if they were \u201cregularly given\u201d and \u201clawfully certified,\u201d just as former Vice President Mike Pence did on January 6, 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cMr. President, sadly but resolutely I object to the electoral votes of my beloved Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on the grounds of multiple constitutional infractions that they were not, under all of the known circumstances, regularly given,\u201d Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) told Pence that day. Perry noted that his objection was also signed by Sen. Josh Hawley, making it official under the Electoral Count Act.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe ECRA changed that, and now one-fifth of both chambers must sign a \u201cregularly given\u201d objection to make it official.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe \u201cphrase \u2018regularly given\u2019 is a term of art,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/georgialawreview.org\/article\/27922-electoral-votes-regularly-given\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">writes Derek Muller<\/a>, an election law professor at the University of Notre Dame. In an essay titled \u201cElectoral Votes Regularly Given\u201d and published by the University of Georgia Law School in 2021, Muller writes that Hawley and other members of Congress \u201chave incorrectly used the objection to challenge an assortment of pre-appointment controversies that concern the underlying election itself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tDemocrats and some Republicans, like Rep. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who led GOP efforts on the ECRA, tried to close the \u201cregularly given\u201d loophole when Congress passed the law in 2022. Drafting language for the bill stipulates that \u201cregularly given\u201d objections cannot be based on claims of election fraud that occur before the appointment of Electoral College electors, or \u201cpre-appointment,\u201d according to VanMiddlesworth.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAnother phrase that could cause headaches for Democrats also comes from the ECRA\u2019s predecessor: \u201clawfully certified.\u201d Members of Congress can object to state results if they believe Electoral College votes weren\u2019t \u201clawfully certified.\u201d As with \u201cregularly given\u201d objections, \u201clawfully certified\u201d objections are not supposed to be based on claims of voter fraud or voting-related disputes, experts say.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIf 20 percent of Congress objects to a state\u2019s Electoral College votes because they weren\u2019t \u201clawfully certified,\u201d those electoral votes will be subtracted from the total number to win, 270. That would change the total number of Electoral College votes needed to win, and change the states the candidates need to win as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIn addition to legitimate \u201clawfully certified\u201d objections, \u201csustained regularly given objections will result in a contingent election, which will be a disaster,\u201d VanMiddlesworth says. Members of Congress who either don\u2019t know \u2014 or don\u2019t care \u2014 about the clarifying language of the ECRA may still present regularly given objections, according to VanMiddlesworth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cIf there\u2019s one thing that keeps me awake at night, it\u2019s \u2018regularly given,\u2019\u201d VanMiddlesworth said in the October press briefing. \u201cIf enough of those are made we go to a contingent election.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThat\u2019s one of the nightmare scenarios for Democrats. A contingent election \u2014 there hasn\u2019t been one since 1837 \u2014 occurs if neither candidate has enough Electoral College votes to win. In such a scenario, it would be up to state delegations within the House to vote for President. Currently, Republicans hold a majority of those delegations at 26. Democrats hold 22 delegations, and four are tied. It\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/538\/happen-harris-trump-tie-electoral-college\/story?id=114980672\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">exceedingly unlikely<\/a> that Democrats capture a majority of state congressional delegations this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tA contingent election would \u201cbe a very difficult situation for the country if we were to get there on the basis of electoral votes having been rejected,\u201d Jonathan Winer, a former U.S. Special Envoy for Libya who also served as counsel for John Kerry in his time as senator, said in the October press briefing about congressional certification. \u201cIt\u2019s not likely, but it is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe months leading up to Election Day have already been beset with the most legal fights in recent memory, says Ezra Rosenberg of the Lawyers Committee, which is battling Republicans in court in Virginia and elsewhere over attempts to purge hundreds of thousands of voters from rolls. \u201cIt\u2019s never been like this before,\u201d Rosenberg tells <em>Rolling Stone.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tNow, there is more chaos on the horizon. The period between Election Day and Jan. 6 is expected to bring some of the most contentious legal battles over any election in history, VanMiddlesworth and others say. In fact, the months ahead may determine whether the checks and balances put in place by the nation\u2019s founders \u2014 not to mention their hopes for a country free from the tyranny of a president with no loyalty to democratic ideals \u2014 will stand under the test of Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cPolitical scientists have told us what an authoritarian political party is,\u201d Raskin tells <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cAnd one of the key hallmarks is that an authoritarian or fascist political party does not accept the results of democratic elections that don\u2019t go their way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-features\/trump-republicans-steal-the-election-harris-1235151014\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Donald Trump and his allies in Congress and election offices throughout the country have a variety of tools to dismantle the will of voters and install Trump as president \u2014 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=121594\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8629],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=121594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121594\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=121594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=121594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=121594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}