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Democrats must commit to accepting the election results

Democrats must commit to accepting the election results

Former President Donald Trump has a long history of rejecting election results that go against him. But as the Supreme Court rules in favor of Republican governors’ legal efforts to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls, the Democratic Party must step up its efforts to convince voters it has given much cause for concern that they want fair elections and respect the results. .

Democratic officials undoubtedly want voters to forget about it, but they have a long and storied history of refusing to certify the results of the presidential election. This is not republican practice. Democrats repeatedly say that America’s democracy depends on Trump not being re-elected, but they must demonstrate that commitment to democracy by respecting the election results if he wins.

In October, three Democrats issued statements raising the possibility that they would work to delegitimize Trump’s election. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told reporters that he would only certify the election results if the election was “free, fair and fair” and that if Trump wins, he would “definitely” have doubts about the fairness of the process.

Likewise, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said he would certify the election “provided everything goes the way we expect.” … We’ll have to see what happens.” Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) added that she wanted to “make sure all the rules were followed” before she committed to accepting the results.

In other words, they are setting themselves up to deny the integrity of the election simply by looking at who wins. This is inconsistent with a commitment to democracy and our republic.

Taken together, and given Democrats’ long history of seeking to undermine Republican presidential victories, these claims are unacceptable.

In 2001, then-Rep. Elsie Hastings objected to the certification of President George W. Bush’s election victory due to “overwhelming evidence of malfeasance, deliberate fraud and an attempt to suppress voter turnout.” The Florida Democrat offered no evidence to support those claims, but that didn’t stop him from airing them on the House floor. Not to be outdone, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) confirmed Hastings’ allegations of fraud, again without providing any evidence.

Fast forward four years, and the number of Democrats refusing to certify Bush’s reelection has grown. In addition to Waters, Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), and then Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones refuses to confirm that then-Calif. Sen. Barbara Boxer was new to election denial. As the senator joined the House member in refusing confirmation, it sparked a two-hour debate in which Democrats said the “democratic process has been thwarted” and the election was “stolen.”

In 2017, Democratic election deniers returned, with Lee and McGovern claiming in unverified claims that “illegal actions taken by the Russian government” jeopardized the election results.

Democrats can argue that these baseless allegations of election fraud and interference did no harm because they were rejected by both houses of Congress. It is also true that all these efforts have left the Democratic Party looking bitter and frustrated.

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These refusals to accept the results of the presidential election delayed the counting of Electoral College votes by just a couple of hours, but they also opened the door for Trump to go further and push then-Vice President Mike Pence to throw out the election. full results.

Both sides must commit to accepting the election results next week. Perhaps a party that calls its opponent a potential autocrat could lead this process.