POST-ELECTION COMMENTS

As I write this, it has been more than two weeks since Election Day, and nearly half of the country remains convinced that Joe Biden did not win legitimately. The pro-Trumpers have been pursuing various remedies, which I will discuss below.

First, however, I would like to address the vituperative criticism that the Dems and their allies in the media have been heaping on Mr. Trump and his voters for daring to question/challenge the results in various states. I agree with one criticism that Mr. Trump should have given Biden access to whatever information a President-elect is entitled to receive. But, in my view, his denial to do so is not the primary post-election issue. The questionable manner in which many of the votes were tabulated in some of the swing states is far more serious.

According to the Constitution Mr. Trump has the absolute right to demand recounts and even redress in the courts. Moreover, in my opinion, he has an obligation to all those who voted for him to do so. One is free to disagree with Mr. Trump’s policies; one is free to hate him; one is free to support and vote for whomever. But, one is NOT free to deny him and his supporters their right to seek redress for what they perceive to have been unfair or illegal election tactics, nor to belittle, mock, or disparage them when they do so.

We all know that if the shoe had been on the other foot, so to speak, the Dems would be doing the same thing. Worse, the radical elements of the Party would have been rioting and looting in protest. Before the election, sore loser Hillary had urged Biden to “never concede,” so, anti-Trumpers, spare us the indignation, come off your “high horse,” and be patient while the legal process plays out. Don’t listen to the biased fake news “know-nothings” on CNN, MSNBC, and other media outlets or The Washington Post and the NY Times, among other print media outlets. Many of them know less and are less intelligent than the average voter anyway.

Remember, the anti-Trumpers are the ones who refused to acknowledge their defeat in 2016. They spent four years attributing their loss to various conspiracy theories, all of which turned out to be without merit. They are the ones who distracted the country with “trumped up” impeachment proceedings while the Coronavirus gained a foothold in the US. So, everyone stand down and let that pesky little document called the Constitution play out.

If you have been paying attention, you are aware of several voting anomalies, particularly with respect to mail-in ballots, in various states such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that have been exposed and are being investigated, to wit:

1. Voting by people who are dead, have moved out of the state, or have voted multiple times.
2. Refusing GOP “checkers” access to enable them to monitor those counting the ballots as authorized pursuant to states’ voting laws.
3. Lost or misplaced ballots, some of which have been found, others, perhaps, not.
4. Batches of votes, numbering in the thousands, being delivered in the dead of night under mysterious circumstances when independent “checkers” were not present.
5. Software anomalies that have cast doubt on the accuracy of the count.
6. Hundreds of signed affidavits that describe voting anomalies and/or illegalities.
7. Arbitrary and unilateral changes to the rules by Secretaries of State or judges in PA, GA, and others to validate mail-in ballots received late or containing disqualifying errors. Pursuant to the Constitution only the state legislatures have the authority to enact and modify that state’s voting rules and procedures.

It is not the purpose of this blog to delve into the weeds regarding these issues. Suffice to say that these claims are legitimate, and Trump’s legal team is within its legal rights to pursue them. Rather than criticize without knowledge of the facts we all need to step back and let the process play out in accordance with the Constitution.

Don’t be surprised if these matters are finally decided by the Supreme Court. After all, the Constitution did promulgate a system of checks and balances in which all three branches of government are of equal power and importance. Perhaps, it will turn out that any transgressions were minor. The point is we don’t know, and we must find out.

CONCLUSION

I have discussed the history of election recounts and challenges in previous blogs, and I see no need to repeat it all at this time. Suffice to say, historically, recounts and challenges have been fairly commonplace, but they have rarely been successful in actually overturning statewide or national elections. In fact, there have only been three such instances in the last 50 years. So, in this case, the likelihood is that even though anomalies, errors or even instances of fraud may be discovered they will probably not be substantial enough to overturn the election results.

Even so, the results of these investigations should help us to improve procedures for future elections. This was the first election to feature massive mail-in voting, but it will not be the last.

As I said, the point is that currently none of us knows for sure, and we must find out. The critical point is that regardless of who is ultimately declared the winner the public must be satisfied that the election was fair and the results are valid. We cannot have a situation where half the country has been bullied into submission. Only when the process has been completed will all voters accept the results. Only then will the winner be able to govern effectively. Otherwise, our system of government will break down, and we will be no better off than the typical third-world country.