Election challenges show contempt for democracy

Congressman Rob Wittman’s defense of his signing onto the Texas amicus brief to overturn the presidential election is both hypocritical and devoid of fact. Without providing evidence of mass voter fraud or raising a legitimate constitutional question, the Texas lawsuit did not even meet the basic constitutional standard of alleging a wrong. Unsurprisingly, the Supreme Court rejected it 9-0.

This is not about left versus right. It’s about our Constitution and democracy. Americans across the political spectrum must understand why it’s critical to stand united against this attempt to undermine American democracy.

Since Nov. 3, Republican politicians have claimed their intentions are to “restore American confidence in our electoral processes.” Despite this claim, they took zero actions when all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies reported that

Russia worked to undermine our 2016 elections.

And while the Republican-led

Senate Intelligence Committee further confirmed that Russia worked to undermine our elections, Republicans instead voted overwhelmingly against the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and against three election security bills to prevent future cyber attacks.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz cites the 1876 presidential election as a precedent for the 2020 challenge. It’s not. Notwithstanding that the 1876 presidential election was about enabling Jim Crow laws, that election was at an impasse because three states did not certify their election results, and thus did not certify electors. Congress and the Supreme Court formed a committee to resolve that lack of certification, not relitigate certified results. In 2020, all 50 states have certified their elections and their electors. Nothing remains for Congress or the Supreme Court to investigate.

Objecting Republicans also cite the 2005 challenge that three Democrats made to Ohio’s electoral votes. But this hurts the GOP cause. Democrats led their complaint by declaring they accepted President George W. Bush’s re-election, have zero intent to overturn the election and lodged the complaint specifically to document Ohio’s voter suppression injustices. John Kerry rejected even this comparatively minor challenge, which was then resolved in only two hours.

The president has continued to allege mass voter fraud, but his opinion and hearsay aren’t evidence. Indeed, President Donald Trump’s own voter integrity commission was disbanded because it found zero evidence of mass voter fraud.

Our federal courts and the Supreme Court agree. Trump’s lawyers are 1-60 in federal courts with a unanimous 9-0 Supreme Court rejection. Even former Attorney General Bill Barr admitted the Justice Department found no evidence of mass voter fraud.

Undeterred, Republicans claim that Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution requires states to appoint presidential electors according to rules established by each state’s legislature — and that states allegedly violated this requirement. But again, our courts have already heard these cases and ruled that the presidential elections were conducted as state law required.

Georgia’s Republican secretary of state even pleaded with the president and Republicans to stop lying about Georgia’s election as it was igniting threats of violence against him and threats of sexual violence against his wife. Yet

GOP politicians have still knowingly and remorselessly persisted in their propaganda campaign.

On the night of Nov. 3, I had the integrity to call Rep. Wittman and concede the race. And perhaps ultimately this is the best litmus test to demonstrate that objecting Republicans know their claims of mass voter fraud are a lie.

If they believed this was a fraudulent election, they should have rejected any concessions until the allegations of fraud were resolved and American confidence restored. But not one of the 150+ objecting Republicans deny their own victory, despite openly denying Joe Biden’s victory, in the same election. How convenient.

Americans across the political spectrum should reject this hypocrisy by standing united behind President-elect Joe Biden. Not necessarily because you voted for him, but because you support our Constitution and democracy.

Qasim Rashid