Electoral College can’t decide? There’s a solution AUSTERE TIMES
Cutting through the hoopla surrounding the Nov. 3 election, the U.S. Constitution provides a finite day for choosing the president. That is the date set for the members of the Electoral College to meet to vote for his election.
This year that date is Dec. 14.
If sufficient states have certified their votes by then, so as to aggregate at least 270 electoral votes for a candidate, he then, and only then, becomes the president-elect and will take office as president at noon on Jan. 20, when the terms of the current president and vice president constitutionally expire. At this point in the counting, that is Joe Biden.
But evidence of voting irregularities in various states has arisen. Should that evidence convince courts to enjoin certification of some states’ vote tally — or if some so-called faithless electors decide for whatever reason to vote against their pledged candidate — such that neither candidate receives at least 270 certified votes on Dec. 14, the Constitution defaults to an alternate, definitive solution.
Bypassing the electors entirely while keeping us within a representative republic, the 12th Amendment mandates that the House of Representatives “shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President.”
Needing at least a twothirds quorum of states to vote, each state gets one vote, regardless the number of Representatives each has, and the majority vote of all the states chooses the president. With states represented by Republicans outnumbering those represented by Democrats, President Trump would be re-elected.
Despite any electoral insufficiency on Dec. 14, we will have finality, and either a newly elected President Biden or a reelected President Trump.
– John A. Lanzetta,
Miami
I am proud of my husband and my niece, who are dedicated physicians in South Florida, and of my daughter who is in her third year of medical school. I constantly worry because of their potential exposure to the coronavirus.
I become defensive when I hear about people not wearing masks and tempting fate. Not only are they putting themselves at risk, but they are risking the lives of those of us who are careful, especially the committed physicians, nurses, technicians and healthcare workers in doctors’ offices, urgent-care centers and hospitals.
Perhaps there should be a database of people who refuse to wear masks.
Upon arrival at emergency rooms, those with COVID-19 symptoms should be turned away. Maybe if there were a consequence for their selfish and ignorant behavior, they would think twice, and save a life in doing so.
– Tracey Stein, Hollywood