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Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures as he departs after concluding his remarks during a campaign event in Mint Hill, North Carolina, on September 25, 2024.
Relying solely on the courts is a prescription for interregnum confusion, chaos, and violence. Trump is desperate and afraid. If he loses the election, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
In Donald Trump’s unsuccessful effort to reverse his 2020 election defeat, he exploited the vulnerabilities of the Electoral College process. For the election of 2024, he found new ones.
A presidential candidate’s political party names a slate of “electors” to represent that candidate in the Electoral College. When voters cast their ballots, they’re actually voting for a candidate’s electors. Only the slate of a state’s popular vote winner counts toward the 270-electoral votes required to win the presidency.
Although the courts withstood Trump’s specious attacks on the 2020 election, the past is not prologue.
The process requires several steps:
Every step in the Electoral College process is fraught with danger to democracy. And Trump knows it.
With local election officials, governors, and Trump’s vice president resisting his unlawful attempts to subvert the election, Trump played his final card: Inciting the violent insurrection to block the transition of power.
Having learned from their mistakes in 2020, Trump and his MAGA allies have now corrupted the system from within. More than 100 “election deniers” who have refused to accept Trump’s 2020 defeat now serve as local election officials in the eight swing states that will decide the 2024 contest: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Some have already demonstrated their willingness to wreak post-election havoc.
A prominent election law scholar assures us that the weaknesses in the Electoral College process are not a problem. Notre Dame Law Professor Derek Muller argues that local election officials perform only “ministerial” acts—“little more than making sure all precincts have reported and the arithmetic is correct.”
“[T]here are ample safeguards to ensure ballots are tabulated accurately and election results are certified in a timely manner,” Prof. Muller urges.
Muller is talking about judges. He believes that they remain the critical guardrails protecting voters from MAGA loyalists in key election positions because “[a] court can quickly and easily ensure election results are certified in a timely fashion.”
But “can” doesn’t mean “will.” And some “won’t.”
Although the courts withstood Trump’s specious attacks on the 2020 election, the past is not prologue. For more than three years, Trump and his allies have pushed his Big Lie, poisoned the body politic with false claims about non-existent “voter fraud,” and infiltrated the election system with MAGA loyalists determined to assure Trump’s 2024 victory.
And for more than three years, Americans have witnessed the courts’ epic failure to hold Trump accountable for his treasonous misconduct.
Relying solely on the courts is a prescription for interregnum confusion, chaos, and violence. Trump is desperate and afraid. If he loses the election, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Despite the dismal judicial record of the past three years, perhaps the legal system will begin to deal with Trump and his MAGA allies effectively. Meanwhile, here’s another idea:
Ignore Trump’s outrageous rhetorical distractions and shine a bright light on his dark mission – winning at all costs. To prevail, he’s willing to dismantle democracy.
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
In Donald Trump’s unsuccessful effort to reverse his 2020 election defeat, he exploited the vulnerabilities of the Electoral College process. For the election of 2024, he found new ones.
A presidential candidate’s political party names a slate of “electors” to represent that candidate in the Electoral College. When voters cast their ballots, they’re actually voting for a candidate’s electors. Only the slate of a state’s popular vote winner counts toward the 270-electoral votes required to win the presidency.
Although the courts withstood Trump’s specious attacks on the 2020 election, the past is not prologue.
The process requires several steps:
Every step in the Electoral College process is fraught with danger to democracy. And Trump knows it.
With local election officials, governors, and Trump’s vice president resisting his unlawful attempts to subvert the election, Trump played his final card: Inciting the violent insurrection to block the transition of power.
Having learned from their mistakes in 2020, Trump and his MAGA allies have now corrupted the system from within. More than 100 “election deniers” who have refused to accept Trump’s 2020 defeat now serve as local election officials in the eight swing states that will decide the 2024 contest: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Some have already demonstrated their willingness to wreak post-election havoc.
A prominent election law scholar assures us that the weaknesses in the Electoral College process are not a problem. Notre Dame Law Professor Derek Muller argues that local election officials perform only “ministerial” acts—“little more than making sure all precincts have reported and the arithmetic is correct.”
“[T]here are ample safeguards to ensure ballots are tabulated accurately and election results are certified in a timely manner,” Prof. Muller urges.
Muller is talking about judges. He believes that they remain the critical guardrails protecting voters from MAGA loyalists in key election positions because “[a] court can quickly and easily ensure election results are certified in a timely fashion.”
But “can” doesn’t mean “will.” And some “won’t.”
Although the courts withstood Trump’s specious attacks on the 2020 election, the past is not prologue. For more than three years, Trump and his allies have pushed his Big Lie, poisoned the body politic with false claims about non-existent “voter fraud,” and infiltrated the election system with MAGA loyalists determined to assure Trump’s 2024 victory.
And for more than three years, Americans have witnessed the courts’ epic failure to hold Trump accountable for his treasonous misconduct.
Relying solely on the courts is a prescription for interregnum confusion, chaos, and violence. Trump is desperate and afraid. If he loses the election, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Despite the dismal judicial record of the past three years, perhaps the legal system will begin to deal with Trump and his MAGA allies effectively. Meanwhile, here’s another idea:
Ignore Trump’s outrageous rhetorical distractions and shine a bright light on his dark mission – winning at all costs. To prevail, he’s willing to dismantle democracy.
In Donald Trump’s unsuccessful effort to reverse his 2020 election defeat, he exploited the vulnerabilities of the Electoral College process. For the election of 2024, he found new ones.
A presidential candidate’s political party names a slate of “electors” to represent that candidate in the Electoral College. When voters cast their ballots, they’re actually voting for a candidate’s electors. Only the slate of a state’s popular vote winner counts toward the 270-electoral votes required to win the presidency.
Although the courts withstood Trump’s specious attacks on the 2020 election, the past is not prologue.
The process requires several steps:
Every step in the Electoral College process is fraught with danger to democracy. And Trump knows it.
With local election officials, governors, and Trump’s vice president resisting his unlawful attempts to subvert the election, Trump played his final card: Inciting the violent insurrection to block the transition of power.
Having learned from their mistakes in 2020, Trump and his MAGA allies have now corrupted the system from within. More than 100 “election deniers” who have refused to accept Trump’s 2020 defeat now serve as local election officials in the eight swing states that will decide the 2024 contest: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Some have already demonstrated their willingness to wreak post-election havoc.
A prominent election law scholar assures us that the weaknesses in the Electoral College process are not a problem. Notre Dame Law Professor Derek Muller argues that local election officials perform only “ministerial” acts—“little more than making sure all precincts have reported and the arithmetic is correct.”
“[T]here are ample safeguards to ensure ballots are tabulated accurately and election results are certified in a timely manner,” Prof. Muller urges.
Muller is talking about judges. He believes that they remain the critical guardrails protecting voters from MAGA loyalists in key election positions because “[a] court can quickly and easily ensure election results are certified in a timely fashion.”
But “can” doesn’t mean “will.” And some “won’t.”
Although the courts withstood Trump’s specious attacks on the 2020 election, the past is not prologue. For more than three years, Trump and his allies have pushed his Big Lie, poisoned the body politic with false claims about non-existent “voter fraud,” and infiltrated the election system with MAGA loyalists determined to assure Trump’s 2024 victory.
And for more than three years, Americans have witnessed the courts’ epic failure to hold Trump accountable for his treasonous misconduct.
Relying solely on the courts is a prescription for interregnum confusion, chaos, and violence. Trump is desperate and afraid. If he loses the election, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Despite the dismal judicial record of the past three years, perhaps the legal system will begin to deal with Trump and his MAGA allies effectively. Meanwhile, here’s another idea:
Ignore Trump’s outrageous rhetorical distractions and shine a bright light on his dark mission – winning at all costs. To prevail, he’s willing to dismantle democracy.