Twelve Democratic governors issued a statement on Wednesday, September 30, 2020, defending America’s democracy and vowing that every valid ballot will be counted in the election, NBC News reported. Read story here.
Trump has falsely claimed the election will be riddled with fraud, refused to say he’ll accept the results, and hasn’t agree to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses. In last night’s debate, he encouraged armed extremists to “stand by.”
The governors’ statement says, “Any efforts to throw out ballots or refuse a peaceful transfer of power are nothing less than an assault on democracy,” and, “There is absolutely no excuse for promoting the intimidation or harassment of voters.” Trump and Republicans are expected to do all of those things.
The signers were Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Gavin Newsom of California, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Ralph Northam of Virginia, Jay Inslee of Washington, Tony Evers of Wisconsin, Tim Walz of Minnesota, Kate Brown of Oregon, Steve Sisolak of Nevada, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico and John Carney of Delaware.
It’s extraordinary that a dozen state governors would feel compelled to sign such a statement.
What exactly are these govenors going to do to defend Democracy? Make sure every vote is counted?
California, Oregon and Washington have done mail in voting for several elections. No state did everything at once. There are instances of likely fraud. Family member helping relative fill out ballot, husband telling spouse who to vote for. Ballots not put in the protective sleeve are not valid. No signature; not valid. Of course it is the poll watchers and workers who really keep things above board or not.
Some of the states have not fully implemented measures to do a election by mail in ballot, but many in haste due to a bug haven’t fully prepared, and the result will be delay, and potential messy ness. Beyond certifying their states electoral ballots they have no skin in the game of peaceful transfer of power, of course there is an underlying assumption the current office holder will loose.
Not extraordinary that 12 democratic governors would sign something. Now that they have signed something what are they going actually do?
I’ve added a link to their statement so you can read it. The law, not your opinion, determines whether votes are counted and what is “fraud.” Whether a ballot is invalid or fraudulent depends on the specific facts of that ballot. There’s nothing wrong with a husband and wife, or anyone else, discussing who to vote for. There’s a lot of loose talk about “fraud,” but actual voting fraud is extremely rare.