January 25, 2022 7:00am by David Farrar

A not entirely hypothetical election scenario

I’m interested in the views of readers as to what they think would be the appropriate response to a disputed (some say stolen) election in the US by supporters of the losing party.

Let’s say it is 2024 and it is a close election where it comes down to one state being the difference between who wins and loses (like in 2000). Your candidate wins that state by a comfortable majority of 50,000 votes (over 1%).

The other party disputes the results in that state. They file numerous lawsuits, which all fail, and have zero proof of any fraud which would change the result. However the other party has a majority in both the state house and senate. The other party pass a resolution declaring the results of the vote is unclear due to fraud allegations and they vote for a set of electors from their party. The Governor (also from the other party) certifies a set of electors from the winning candidate (your party).

Both sets of electors meet and send to Congress votes for their respective candidates.

The other party has a narrow majority in the House and Senate. They use that majority to reject the set of electors from the Governor (reflecting the actual vote) and choose the electors from the State Legislature on the basis the Constitution gives the power to state legislatures to decide the manner of appointing electors. They certify the election for the candidate from the party you did not vote for.

The Supreme Court declines to rule on the issue, stating under separation of powers its job is not to second guess Congress, even though Congress has ignored the results of the actual election in that state.

So the candidate from the party you oppose is sworn in as President, despite clearly losing the election in terms of electoral college votes. The other party has just used its majority in the state legislature and Congress to ignore the result.

You regard the President as being illegitimate and what the other party did as partially ending democratic elections as the hallmark of the United States.

Vote below on what you think the appropriate response should be in this scenario. Would you just accept the result, or protest against it, and how?