Electoral College Procedures & Contested Scenarios

[PlatinumGuy]

I suspect more of these are going to emerge, so perhaps time for a separate thread. Let's try to keep it technical/constitutional and leave the politics for the other threads.

Waye, MI county board of canvassers refused to certify the election results.

MI state board of canvassers has 10 days to certify the results instead of the county board. The board is 2-2 D-R. If they are deadlocked, the governor can fire some of them. Does he have to nominate other Republicans in their place? If he does, it can stay deadlocked.

A court may decide to force the Republicans to certify, holding them in contempt until they do, or even step in to consider it certified without the Republicans consent. This is likely to end up in SCOTUS.

If the courts fail to certify the election results - what is the default process for appointing electors?

The Republican controlled legislature can pass new legislation nominating Republican electors. Gov Whitmer (D) can veto it.

The house & senate can pass a concurrent resolution and nominate their own electors which the gov cannot veto. (It may be illegal, and may lead to arrests by the democrat MI AG).

Can the Governor also appoint electors by Executive Order?

If 2 sets of electors appear on January 6, the join session of congress & senate breaks up. The D house will vote to disqualify the Republican electors, and the R house will vote to disqualify the Democratic electors. When the two houses disagree, then the statute states that the votes of the electors whose appointment was certified by the governor of the state shall be counted.

Biden wins.

Would love to learn more about this.


Here is some material https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32717.pdf

[Afrages6]

https://twitter.com/rublekb/status/1328882623297576961?s=21

Well this is all moot anyways

[Jellybelly]

https://twitter.com/rublekb/status/1328882623297576961?s=21

Well this is all moot anyways

Any details on that condition? When does it have to be explained by? What happens if they can’t explain it?

[PlatinumGuy]

Any details on that condition? When does it have to be explained by? What happens if they can’t explain it?

Its a declaration... the election is certified already. As we say, תנאי בטל ומעשה קיים

[Afrages6]

Any details on that condition? When does it have to be explained by? What happens if they can’t explain it?

We are talking about 3-4 votes per precinct, it could be explained by people signing in and misplacing a ballot or giving up on the line after signing in

[PlatinumGuy]

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:0CURl8N-5msJ:https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/wayne-county-election/2020/11/18/b515fa14-29c9-11eb-92b7-6ef17b3fe3b4_story.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca

[zh cohen]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/wayne-county-election/2020/11/18/b515fa14-29c9-11eb-92b7-6ef17b3fe3b4_story.html

Some key paragraphs -

State law requires the board to resolve concerns like that before it votes on certification, experts said.

After the vote, the two Republicans had to face a lineup of poll workers, clerks and voters, who berated them for declining to certify an election in which 878,000 people had voted.

But it's Trump who's pressuring...

Their experience signaled the enormous pressure that Trump and his Republican allies have put...

[PlatinumGuy]

I suspect more of these are going to emerge, so perhaps time for a separate thread. Let's try to keep it technical/constitutional and leave the politics for the other threads.

Waye, MI county board of canvassers refused to certify the election results.

MI state board of canvassers has 10 days to certify the results instead of the county board. The board is 2-2 D-R. If they are deadlocked, the governor can fire some of them. Does he have to nominate other Republicans in their place? If he does, it can stay deadlocked.

A court may decide to force the Republicans to certify, holding them in contempt until they do, or even step in to consider it certified without the Republicans consent. This is likely to end up in SCOTUS.

If the courts fail to certify the election results - what is the default process for appointing electors?

The Republican controlled legislature can pass new legislation nominating Republican electors. Gov Whitmer (D) can veto it.

The house & senate can pass a concurrent resolution and nominate their own electors which the gov cannot veto. (It may be illegal, and may lead to arrests by the democrat MI AG).

Can the Governor also appoint electors by Executive Order?

If 2 sets of electors appear on January 6, the join session of congress & senate breaks up. The D house will vote to disqualify the Republican electors, and the R house will vote to disqualify the Democratic electors. When the two houses disagree, then the statute states that the votes of the electors whose appointment was certified by the governor of the state shall be counted.

Biden wins.

Would love to learn more about this.


Here is some material https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32717.pdf

https://twitter.com/rebeccaballhaus/status/1329575965010358278?s=21

Take two coming Monday

[YitzyS]

Fascinating thread. I need some more possibilities. Is there any scenarios in which Ben Shapiro becomes president? 

In all seriousness, I would never have thought these things were possible, but I've said that about many things last year before 2020 came along and taught me to never rule out ANY possibilities.

[zh cohen]

Is there any scenarios in which Ben Shapiro becomes president? 

If he gets elected Speaker of the House, and then the President and Vice President resign.

[Euclid]

Fascinating thread. I need some more possibilities. Is there any scenarios in which Ben Shapiro becomes president? 

In all seriousness, I would never have thought these things were possible, but I've said that about many things last year before 2020 came along and taught me to never rule out ANY possibilities.

Dave Portnoy and he are already el presidente and vice president of yeshiva bachurim nationwide.

[Jellybelly]

I was told that once Biden is sworn in, even if new evidence would come out a few months later showing the elections were rigged, it would be too late to change anything. Is that true?

[PlatinumGuy]

I was told that once Biden is sworn in, even if new evidence would come out a few months later showing the elections were rigged, it would be too late to change anything. Is that true?

Fraudulent elections wouldn't necessarily revoke the state's appointment of electors

[aygart]

Fraudulent elections wouldn't necessarily revoke the state's appointment of electors

And that is a good thing. That would be a good reason to use impeachment though.

[PlatinumGuy]

And that is a good thing. That would be a good reason to use impeachment though.

No doubt. The fathers allowed for impeachment precisely for reasons like this. Wouldn't happen so quickly in todays' partisan world.

[Jellybelly]

But it would be impossible to impeach anyways, because you’d probably have to prove that Biden ordered it done, he can always claim he didn’t know anything about it.

[justaregularguy]

But it would be impossible to impeach anyways, because you’d probably have to prove that Biden ordered it done, he can always claim he didn’t know anything about it.

im sure hunter knew something about it though

[PlatinumGuy]

But it would be impossible to impeach anyways, because you’d probably have to prove that Biden ordered it done, he can always claim he didn’t know anything about it.

Well that's why it's left to the consideration of the senators...

[Jellybelly]

Just to be another example, I remember someone saying that if they find out later that Obama was really born in Kenya, then any law he ever passed should be null and void because he wasn’t eligible to be president.
 But according to what your saying now, once someone is sworn in, you can only be removed with impeachment.

[PlatinumGuy]

Just to be another example, I remember someone saying that if they find out later that Obama was really born in Kenya, then any law he ever passed should be null and void because he wasn’t eligible to be president.
 But according to what your saying now, once someone is sworn in, you can only be removed with impeachment.

I did not say that. My guess is it would be up to SCOTUS to decide if the constitution renders it impossible for somebody foreign born to be president, or just illegal to appoint him.