NYT: Here's What Will Happen Between Election Day and Inauguration Day
President Trump’s attempts to overturn the election results have made the arcane steps that formalize the will of the people a matter of unusual public importance.
By Maggie Astor, The New York Times, November 12, 2020
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The people have spoken. Now what?
Normally, what happens between Election Day and Inauguration Day is a series of formalities to which few people need to pay attention. But President Trump’s refusal to acknowledge that he lost to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., and top Republicans’ acquiescence to his efforts to subvert the democratic process, have made the arcane procedures by which the will of the people is formalized a matter of public importance.
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Here’s an overview of what will happen between now and January, how the Trump campaign could try to intervene and why it is so unlikely to succeed.
First, states will certify their election results.
County or municipal officials — whichever level of government is responsible for election administration in a given state — must count all ballots, double-check the totals and make sure every valid vote was included. The exact procedures vary by state.
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State legislators could, but probably won’t, intervene.
A primary tactic of the Trump campaign and conservative groups has been to use lawsuits and other maneuvers to try to prevent states from certifying their results, or at least delay the process. The idea is, in part, that if election officials can’t certify Mr. Biden’s victories in time, Republican-controlled state legislatures could step in and name pro-Trump electors.
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The Electoral College will meet.
On Dec. 14, each state’s electors will formally cast their votes.
Most states have laws requiring electors to vote for the candidate they were pledged to (in almost all cases, the winner of their state’s popular vote), limiting the possibility of “faithless electors.” (There were several in 2016, but they didn’t change the final result.) The Supreme Court unanimously upheld those laws this summer in Chiafalo v. Washington. So that’s one less source of uncertainty.
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Congress will certify the results.
On Jan. 6, Congress will count and certify the electoral votes.
In any remotely normal year, state certifications — by Dec. 8 or, at the latest, Dec. 14 — would be the end of disputes, and everything after that would be formalities. In all likelihood, that will be the case this year, too.
But in the unlikely event that state legislatures and governors appointed competing slates, Congress would have to choose.
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Biden will be sworn in.
The coming weeks may be chaotic. They may undermine public faith in the electoral process and cement Trump supporters’ false belief that the election was “stolen.” The damage to democratic institutions may be long-lasting.
But in the short term, it is virtually inconceivable that anything will happen but this: On Jan. 20, 2021, Mr. Biden will raise his right hand, take the oath of office and become the 46th president of the United States.
https://www.nytimes.com/article/biden-election-inauguration.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab
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TY OneBlueSky!
This seems like good information on gop legislators & PA's Electors..
Link to tweet
BumRushDaShow (69,700 posts)
35. But in PA, the legislature does NOT pick the electors (that is in the state Constitution)
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=14533329
Bookmarked!
