September 13, 2024
A group of Republican and Democratic House lawmakers just pledged to respect the results of the 2024 presidential election and certify the electoral vote even if their party’s candidate does not win.
The letter dated September 12th says once the 2024 presidential election is over – and all legal means to challenge election results in the courts have been exhausted – I will safeguard the fairness and integrity of America’s democratic process by:
1. Acknowledging the election winner certified at the joint meeting of congress in January 2025 as the legitimate president of the United States.
2. Attending the president’s inauguration ceremony in person.
And 3. Serving as a voice for calm and reconciliation and speaking out against those who endorse or engage in violence that harms people, property, or public spaces.
The letter was signed by a total of 32 house members – including six republicans.
A few things here – it seems wild that this is even a question and that a letter like this even has to be written. It is congress’s job to certify the election. It’s not a suggestion, it is not a choice — it’s a mandate outlined in the United States constitution. Congress shall count and certify all electoral votes. Not just the ones for their candidate – but all of them. Article II Section 1 Clause 3 – “the president of the senate shall, in the presence of the senate and house of representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the president, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed.”
It doesn’t say maybe if their candidate doesn’t win they don’t have to certify. It says shall certify.
See in the United States we have a process. Each state runs its elections in the way it sees fit, those states certify their vote based on those state laws and rules and selects the corresponding slate of electors voted on by the majority of the voters in that state. If a candidate decides to challenge the state vote count for whatever reason that’s 1000-percent their right. That’s part of the process. But when the legal challenges are completed that’s it. It’s over. Yes – slates of electors can be challenged by lawmakers on January 6th but only under only two specific circumstances both have to do with whether the electors were legally selected. And in order to even bring a challenge to a state’s slate of electors the challenger has to secure signatures from one-fifth of the House and one-fifth of the Senate. That’s a brand new threshold established by congress after what happened in after the 2020 election.
The bottom line is — while it’s nice that 32 house democrats and republicans signed on to this letter – you may be wondering why the other 403 did not. That may be something you want to ask your lawmaker.
Read the letter here.
