“Two Wisconsin Democratic electors and a voter on Tuesday sued Republicans who attempted to cast electoral ballots for Donald Trump in 2020,” ABC News reported on Tuesday, May 17, 2022 (read story here).
Lawyers for the plaintiffs, who are seeking $2.4 million from the 10 fake electors and 2 attorneys who aided them, say they’re trying to deter similar conduct in the future. The lawsuit seeks to disqualify the 10 individuals from ever being electors.
I have no idea what the courts will do with this, but I see a potential standing problem, i.e., whether the plaintiffs have a sufficient personal interest in the matter to have standing to sue the defendants. (For more information about “standing,” go here.)
I will say this, though. The fake electors argue they did nothing wrong because they weren’t trying to change the election result, but only preserve their legal options in case a court ruled in favor of Trump. That’s nonsense.
First, there was no need for these “electors.” The Trump electors on the November 2020 ballot would serve as electors if a recount or court decision changed the results and awarded Wisconsin’s electoral votes to Trump.
Second, the fake electors weren’t, as they assert, just in standby mode. They met, signed fake certificates, and those certificates were sent to Washington D.C. In other words, they actually cast fraudulent electoral votes.
Third, the Trump campaign’s lawsuits were themselves fraudulent, because there was no factual basis for them. The campaign filed dozens of such lawsuits, and every single one of them was rejected by courts as baseless.
Fourth, the fake elector scheme was hatched, organized, and coordinated by the Trump campaign; was carried out in multiple states; and was part of a concerted effort to illegally overthrow the 2020 election. Wisconsin’s fake Trump electors didn’t act on their own; they were willing participants in what amounted to a conspiracy to steal the election.
These fake electors committed fraud against Wisconsin voters and the American people. The sole question, as I see it, is whether the law gives anyone a right to sue them for doing it. I certainly believe they should be held accountable, but criminally prosecuting those responsible may be a better way to go.