Refusing to certify legitimate votes is a felony

[marmar]

Refusing to certify legitimate votes is a felony | Opinion
Samuel Bagenstos and Justin Levitt

Samuel Bagenstos is the Frank G. Millard Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School; Justin Levitt is Professor of Law at Loyola Law School-Los Angeles. Both are scholars of voting rights, and both have served as senior officials in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The people have spoken. They delivered Joe Biden a decisive electoral victory, including a 150,000-vote margin in Michigan. Yet Republican Party officials have asked the Michigan Board of State Canvassers to delay certification on Monday. These calls follow last week’s tumultuous Wayne County meeting where, after improper interference by a candidate, Republican appointees tried to recant their decision to certify.

This is unduly chaotic, but we shouldn’t bet against democracy. A canvassing board may not legally refuse to certify an election where no legitimate evidence undermines valid ballots. Michigan courts have repeatedly rejected wild claims of election fraud or improprieties as “incorrect and not credible.” The votes, at this point, speak for themselves. Should a member of the state canvassing board seek to misuse their authority, that obstruction won’t actually deliver a different result. First, understand what state canvassers do: certification just involves adding county tallies and declaring a winner. Michigan law provides a separate space to review the election process — a post-election audit, which does not delay or stop certification. The canvassers have one job. State courts can step in to make sure it gets done. Canvassers failing to do their duty may delay the inevitable for a moment — but not much more than that.

Then there’s the electoral count. Other states are certifying. Legislative leaders have disavowed any illegal effort to ignore the votes of their citizens. President-Elect Biden’s electoral-vote margin is so large that refusing to certify Michigan’s votes would not change the outcome. All it would do is disenfranchise this state’s voters.

And then there’s federal law, backed by criminal penalties. Any refusal to certify an election based on meritless innuendo would likely violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Section 11(a) makes it illegal to “willfully fail or refuse to tabulate, count, and report” lawful votes. ..................(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2020/11/23/michigan-canvassers-who-could-face-felony-charges/6388235002/

[ResistantAmerican17]

1. If only we had some kind of voting rights act..... hmmm

Fuck you john roberts. Racism is alive and well and is the primary plank of the republican platform.

[SunSeeker]

2. I hope the Biden DOJ goes after these GOP assholes for this outrage.

[Smackdown2019]

3. Michigan certified their results for Biden, so its over!

Now can he get his national security briefings?