Democracy means voters choose the winners
In 2016, candidate Trump lost the popular vote. President Trump’s approval rating during his presidency never reached 50 percent. In 2020, Trump lost the popular vote and the electoral votes. But now, tens of millions of Republicans are suffering from Trump Derangement Psychosis: “an abnormal condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations.”
The goal of Trump’s “stop the steal” campaign is to ensure that he and his supporters will have control over election officials that they did not have in 2020. In his article in The Atlantic magazine, “January 6 Was Practice,” Barton Gellman spells out how Trump has enlisted the Republican establishment in planning to allow state legislatures to override both the popular vote and the electoral vote and declare him the winner in 2024 if he loses again.
The Republican state officials who effectively saved the country from calamity by refusing to falsely declare fraud or to “find” more votes for Trump are being systematically removed or hounded from office. Instead, Republican-controlled legislatures are giving themselves control over the election certification process. They have proposed or passed measures in at least 16 states that would shift the responsibility for reporting from executive-branch officers to the legislature. For example, an Arizona bill states that the legislature may “revoke the secretary of state’s issuance or certification of a presidential elector’s certificate of election” by a simple majority vote. Some state legislatures are even trying to impose criminal penalties on local election officials whom they allege have committed “technical infractions,” such as obstructing the view of poll watchers. Last year, more than 440 bills with provisions that restrict voting access were introduced in 49 states. At least 19 states passed 34 laws restricting access to voting, and at least thirteen bills restricting access to voting have already been filed for 2022 legislative sessions in four states.
The stage is being set for chaos; imagine weeks of competing mass protests across multiple states as lawmakers from both parties claim victory and charge the other with unconstitutional efforts to seize power. The possibility is real because even though Republicans represent a minority of all voters, a majority of state legislatures are controlled by Republicans.
In its 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act that prevented state and local officials from implementing voting changes that discriminate against specific groups of voters. The Court struck down the criteria for identifying states and localities subject to the Act, but left open the option for Congress to create new criteria that addresses the ways that state and local officials discriminate against voters. In 2021, the Supreme Court issued another decision in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, further restricting the Voting Rights Act. The Court upheld two Arizona voting laws challenged as racially discriminatory, and went further to significantly undermine the Act by creating new obstacles to challenging discriminatory policies. As a result, it is harder than ever for voters to bring cases claiming discrimination in voting.
The proposed John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act is Congress’ response to the Court’s Shelby County decision. The Act would restore and strengthen the freedom to vote by making sure that any state or local changes to voting rules are federally reviewed to ensure they are not discriminating against voters based on race or background. It would ensure that all have an equal say in our future and that our rights are protected. It would reinvigorate and strengthen the Voting Rights Act and prevent new discriminatory voting rules from being adopted in the future. More than 150 companies signed a letter supporting the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, including Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, PepsiCo, IKEA, Nestle USA, Target, Macy’s, Microsoft, Starbucks, Google, and Hershey.
Democracies cannot function if ideological differences are compounded by the acceptance of conspiracy theories and falsified data. The proposed Protecting Our Democracy Act is a package of pro-democracy reforms to restore Congress as a meaningful check on executive authority, and reinvigorate Congress’s exercise of its own constitutional power. In particular, it would restore the balance of power between the federal government’s legislative and executive branches; strengthen enforcement of congressional subpoenas; make sure presidents and vice presidents can be held accountable for criminal conduct; and enforce the Constitution’s emoluments clause which is meant to keep government officials from accepting gifts from foreign nations. In addition, it would reassert the congressional power of the purse; increase oversight of presidential emergency declarations; limit political interference at the U.S. Department of Justice; protect the independence of inspectors general; shield federal whistleblowers who uncover misconduct; ensure that foreign interference in elections gets reported to law enforcement; toughen enforcement of the Hatch Act which is meant to keep federal officials from using their offices for partisan political campaigning; and require the disclosure of tax returns by presidential candidates.
Mark Berg is a community activist and a proud Liberal. His email address is MABerg175@comcast.net.