Before Barrett was confirmed, my money would be SCOTUS would reverse this decision because it is a federal court changing the rules that the State has decided to follow. Now we will wait and see which way the Court will go since at least 3 of them believe the ridiculous theory that only the State legislature can make the rules and that State courts and State agencies cannot interpret those rules.
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Yes.
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Only whites have those rights in America. This is the argument being put forward by Trump’s personal police forces and sanctioned by his court appointees.
At least they are being open about it now. It’s not as if Trump and his minions are suggesting that they have done more for the Black man in this country than even Lincoln, right?
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'Forget it Jake, it’s the Conservative Court now."
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This has always been true about election (not voter) fraud. Elections are stolen on the counting side, not the voting side, of the ballot box. Caro, as always, describes the definitive elements of election fraud in his mind-blowing description of the 1948 Senate primary in Texas. Sure, there were sheriffs’ deputies in hotel rooms handing out $5 bills and sample ballots in San Antonio (and other deputies noting who did and did not show up at the poll), but the election was decided by the vote count in the Valley after most precincts in the stare had reported, thereby creating a certain target number, AND the legal maneuvering so suppress the evidence of fraud after the election. The Republicans, as Josh points out in his editor’s blog, have refined this corruption exquisitely by packing in advance the courts that will referee the election, watching the polling and seizing every opportunity to rig the outcome in the most valuable states.
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We’re all going to need to line up for days and dip our fingers in paint after voting. It’s back to the stone-age, because Russian elections are starting to look desirable by comparison.
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Here’s the only politician ever to be verified as having said something similar:
“ Indeed, you won the elections, but I won the count. ” — Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza (1896-1956), Guardian (London), 17 June 1977.
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During the Pod Save America interview, Biden was asked what his top two or three priorities were for his first term. His answer was fine, I guess: COVID, then I think it was economy and maybe re-engaging with foreign allies. I forget exactly.
What was NOT there, to my dismay, was voting rights. IMO the priorities should be:
- COVID
- Voting rights legislation
- Court reform
- Everything else
Anything we gain in the next 4 years can quickly be lost if they just suppress their way to the next election victory, with a compliant 6-3 SCOTUS.
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As a historian, I studied why some revolutions never get blood on the streets while most have it flowing like rivers. The conclusion is the revolution has succeeded but those in power and therefore with the guns refuse to accept defeat. Thus the blood flows. The winner has usually been the revolutionaries because they have the populace at their backs. Those in power lose when those with the guns, the military, decide it is in their best interest to side with the populace.
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Problem with mixing them in is the legislature declaring it impossible to rightly count the votes on whole, which (what can on do?) allows them to claim their right to decide as they like. Scotus will happily back them, having paved the road and trumpeted their non-intervention in State matters. Mission accomplished.
the unfortunate corollary is that after a bloody revolution succeeds, those revolutionaries who spilled the most blood end up running the show, and see their mandate as exacting revenge on the defeated parties
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There’s so much to do I’d have trouble answering the question as phrased. Limited to two or three, of course he’s right. C’mon.
The risk of comingling ballots that come in before and after the deadline is that if the ‘invalid’ mail-in ballots can’t be accurately identified, ALL the mail-in ballots may be deemed invalid and they’re all tossed. Sounds insane, I know, but these are obviously partisan hack judges that don’t care about the right to vote.
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So, anyway, somebody’s threatening SCOTUS judges at 3:00 in the fucking morning, for some reason:
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I told my wife last night not a single one of our CONservative/RepubliCON friends or family members can no longer say they a for democracy. Even those who are opposed to the current clown in office are somewhat responsible for this.
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If you get, for example, a building permit for your 10 million dollar apartment project, buy the supplies, then break ground, the building department can’t then just tap you on the shoulder and say, we changed our mind – you can’t build here after all. That 10 million you just spent by believing us is wasted.
To the extent this violates the principle that the public can rely on agency statements, it would be interesting to start using this court’s decision as precedent for suddenly yanking away building permits, EPA effluent permits, grazing permits, and so on. Arbitrarily and capriciously.
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It looks like Republicans are building momentum for stopping the counting of votes at midnight EST on Nov 3rd. It’s important to note that Alaska and HI haven’t closed their polls by that point, and that multiple states have laws that determine how vote counting and reporting goes on which lasts far longer. I’m not sure how they think this is going to help them…if the votes aren’t counted and Trump is declared the winner then there will be real riots in the street, and possibly the end of our democracy. And, at least some states will not obey judicial orders telling them to ignore state law and stop counting votes…I guarantee that CA will tell the SC to fuck off if it tries to tell us not to count all of the mail-in ballots that will come in after the election and before the deadline (which is Nov. 20 I think).
It really is disturbing watching Republicans clutch at this straw…that’s what it is, a straw that they think helps them stay in power. The fact that it undermines our democracy is irrelevant to them (and possibly the point), and it’s why they have to go. I don’t think it will work, simply because even Republican citizens in red states believe strongly in the functions of our democracy, and voting is fundamental to that…the power grab by the party just will not go over well with a lot of the people who actually have to count the votes, as most have done it for a long time and know what is supposed to happen (and what is at stake).
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Honestly, how many people do we think actually got their ballots and then decided to wait until a week before the election to send them in? Anyone that did is an idiot and needs to just go vote in person.
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Not really a problem given that the DFL holds the Minnesota House by a comfortable margin. But yes, segregating the late arrivals is protection against further Republican judicial fuckery. I can imagine a scenario where the Eighth Circuit declares the vote tallies invalid, allows the divided legislature to instead appoint its own slate of electors, and as a result Minnesota ends up without any electoral votes at all.
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It’s not at all unusual to procrastinate
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