January 6, 2025
The vast majority of the US expects the official count and certification of Electoral College votes in a joint session of Congress today to be uneventful, a mere procedure. They may be surprised.
The law has changed since 2021, specifically in the form of The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022. In a revision of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, the new Act, signed by President Biden in 2023, adds procedures to those set out in the US Constitution. These additional procedures come into effect for the first time this year.
Among them are changes to objections by Congressional members. Protect Democracy explains:
Previous law allowed for objections to a state’s electoral votes as long as those objections were made in writing and signed by one senator and one representative. It was therefore too easy for members of Congress to disrupt the counting process (and potentially make objections that unfairly undermine public confidence in the integrity of the election). The ECRA raises the threshold required to make a cognizable objection to one-fifth of each chamber, while retaining the requirement that each chamber must sustain objections by a majority vote.
Provided they have the evidence to back it up, Democrats can object to the certification of a state’s electoral votes. TicToc wiz kid St Gael describes a hypothetical scenario:
When Georgia comes up, New York Representative AOC and Californian Senator Alex Padilla raise a written and signed objection to Georgia’s electoral votes. Why? Because they were tipped off with evidence from channels, right, where there are experts and agency evidence that there was fishy, irregular activity that artificially impacted the 2024 election.
Next, they’d need to secure at least 20% support from each of their chambers to trigger the ECRA. The joint session would then pause and split into their respective chambers to deliberate and debate the evidence before voting on it.
This hypothetical is based on the ECRA’s second permissible objection which is “the vote for this determination one or more electors has not been regularly given.” St Gael explains that this objection covers electors who illegitimately vote for an unqualified candidate because of involvement in insurrection and/or foreign interference.
St Gael is correct in asserting that there is substantial evidence of Trump’s direct involvement in the Jan 6 insurrection. He points out that, although SCOTUS overturned the Colorado state supreme court’s decision to exclude Trump from the state ballot, it was not because there was no evidence of insurrection. It’s because a state supreme court is the wrong jurisdiction.
Amendment 14 §3 grants sole authority to Congress when it comes to disqualifying elected officials charged with insurrection. This disqualification clause does not require a criminal conviction because, as Constitutional experts Laurence Tribe and Judge J Michael Luttig have explained, there is a difference between illegal (criminal) and unconstitutional (political).
Now, finally, here we are in Congress where the ECRA provides Democrats with an official opportunity to designate Trump an insurrectionist. In both the House and Senate, Democrats have outstanding lawyers to present evidence for disqualifying Trump. The final vote will require two-thirds of each chamber to successfully slap him with the insurrectionist label. If the vote fails, the electoral votes of that state will be granted to the cuckoo candidate. Since Republicans hold the majority in both the House and Senate, it’s unlikely that they will take any of the evidence into consideration when they vote.
Another scenario that might ruin the Republicans’ election certification experience is the odd fact that 21 states failed to turn over their election tallies to the National Archives and Records Association.
The essential point here is that documents need to be published by NARA before they can be deemed official. The deadline to publish states’ Certificates of Ascertainment was December 23 but it’s flexible, as long as they are submitted before the joint session on January 6. As of this morning, 21 state certificates were still marked as missing on the NARA site.
This has never happened before; not a single state has ever been late let alone missing. One missing state certificate should be plastered all over corporate media yet… crickets. And it isn’t just one state, it’s twenty-one! Almost half the flippin’ nation!
When I checked the NARA site this morning, less than a minute later, the site crashed and it has not come back up again as of the time of publication. I guess I’m not the only one interested in the number of valid certificates available to Congress this morning.
Of the 21 delinquent states, 76% declared a majority vote for Trump-Vance.
This is mystifying. One would’ve thought red states would be the first to return their certified election tallies. If a state fails to submit their Certificate of Ascertainment in time for the January 6 joint session, its electoral votes face exclusion from the final official count. Why would any red state want to be excluded from a count that decides the presidency in their favour?
Just as baffling is that Tim Walz’s Minnesota is among the 5 states that declared a majority vote for Harris-Walz. What is going on?
Let’s examine what would happen if all 21 of these states’ certificates remain outstanding at the start of the joint session. First, it would lower the threshold from 270 needed to determine the Electoral College winner.
On the face of it, this wouldn’t change the current outcome but it is nevertheless a very risky gamble, especially by the red states. So, again, what’s going on?
I have a theory…
If, as we believe, the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, submitted her report on Election 2024 to the White House in early December, it’s possible, even probable, that it contains evidence of election fraud. It follows, therefore, that states with suspect results would have their certification suspended until all investigations either clear them of chicanery, or adjustments are made to rectify the tallies.
Those who have followed reports of Republican election shenanigans over the years will not be surprised by the red states among the 21 listed. The Bradcast is an excellent place to start if you’re looking for reputable information on the subject.
Let It All Out – Your calls on America’s disastrous re-election of Trump; Results update; Voting system concerns
‘Bullet Ballot’ Claims and Other Arguments for Hand-Counting 2024 Votes
Computer Security Experts Urge Harris to Seek Hand-Counts Due to Voting System Breaches
That leaves the five blue states requiring some explanation for their listings. None of them seems likely to be involved in any kind of fraud – unlike the red states, there have been no whispers about underhandedness among them at all. Their combined electoral votes, however, do provide a suspiciously convenient counterbalance to the red states’ losses.
If we look at how the new threshold of 140 EVs affects the two teams:
We see that the MAGA team still holds onto the lead. That might be what it took to reassure the 16 red states whose certification was suspended (if, of course, that is the case) that it wouldn’t affect the outcome they wanted.
In this scenario, 5 blue states have agreed to hold back their certification to mollify the MAGA mob.
At least we won’t have long to wait to see what comes of all this.
You can follow Michelle on Blue Sky: @michelleelle.bsky.social
By leading a violent mob to overthrow our government, he is disqualified by law…but, as we know, THE LAW IS WHY WE’RE HERE! Now to expect the corrupt institutions and power brokers to honor their oaths, amounts to buying a lottery ticket with astronomical odds, and expecting to win. Oh…if the Democrats had pulled the same shit…I can GUARANTEE you the Republicans would go to the EXTREMES TO STOP THIS TRANSITION.
For all their bogus claims four years ago that they KNEW were bogus just look at the extreme shit Republicans pulled to try and stop Biden from being certified as the winner! Had Harris won I have NO doubt we’d see a repeat of four years ago only even uglier. Both those defending the Capitol and the rioters would be better prepared.
Anyone who thinks we will have a democracy after the Democrats fold and kiss the ring of this dictator must be smoking crack. Maybe the only way out is going down into HELL and then this country may eventually figure out racial hatred, etc., is too high a cost. The problem, as we know, is whomever controls the most powerful military in the world…makes the goddamn rules, unless there’s a revolt inside the military. Maybe, after being ordered to fire on unarmed protesters,(which Trump WILL order when the time comes), the shock will wake us up. That being said, Nixon wasn’t removed when his troops killed the unarmed protesters at Kent State. I’m not optimistic, and, given I’m an official outlaw for political reasons…I expect I won’t be hard to find. Of course, I’m a minnow in a large ocean, and they have their eyes on imprisoning Cheney, Milley, and a bunch of people on his hit list. That being said, I’m leaving my options open. When I was railroaded into the joint around killers, I had a decision to make. Survive by any means necessary, including killing someone who came at me, or slink back into fear, and hope for the best. Prison is not a place for sheep. The only thing a wolf respects is another wolf. The democrats are sheep. Our country is a sheep pen.The Republicans are ravenous wolves, and they don’t care how many throats they rip open. You can hear them howling as I type. Good luck marine. The war is upon us. That much is clear.