(Headline USA) A dozen Democratic governors issued a joint statement on Wednesday vowing that every valid ballot will be counted in the election, despite deep-seated distrust over their partisan efforts to rewrite the election rules at the last minute and loosen voter integrity safeguards.
In the immediate aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, even before President Donald Trump had declared a national emergency, leftist operatives were pressing for widespread mail-in voting measures.
That has led to a surge that has raised alarms over the potential for ballot mishandling, vote fraud and the overtaxing of a postal system, as well as questions about the methods used for counting and discounting votes in certain localities
Trump repeated a warning on Tuesday that the election is ripe for fraud.
Following the lead of his Democrat rival, Joe Biden, who has hinted at the possibility of a military coup to dispatch with the incumbent president, Trump refused to say whether he would accept the results of a disputed outcome.
The president also called on his backers to scrutinize voting procedures at the polls, which his leftist critics claimed, without evidence, could cross into voter intimidation.
Without mentioning Trump by name, the governors noted his refusal last week to commit to a peaceful transition of power, although none seem to have questioned similar calls on the Left, including 2016 loser Hillary Clinton’s suggestion that Biden refuse to concede “under any circumstance.”
“Any efforts to throw out ballots or refuse a peaceful transfer of power are nothing less than an assault on democracy,” the grandstanding leftist leaders wrote.
“There is absolutely no excuse for promoting the intimidation or harassment of voters, they continued. “These are all blatant attempts to deny our constituents the right to have their voices heard, as guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution, and to know the will of the people will be carried out.”
Signing the statement were
- 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
- John Carney of Delaware
In total, there are currently 24 Democrat governors and 26 Republicans.
It is unclear why the other half of the Democrat ones—including notable Trump nemeses like New York’s Andrew Cuomo—withheld their names.
Among the concerns surrounding the partisan governors’ nefarious intent, one has been that the state leaders might refuse to certify a Republican victory and insist on continuing their counts until they reach the desired outcome.
That might result in sets of rival electors being sent, or in delays that would extend past the legal deadlines, potentially punting the decision to a House of Representatives controlled byunabashedly anti-Trump House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Despite their efforts to implement last-minute legal changes in their favor—sometimes while circumventing the state legislatures—the governors said all valid ballots cast in accordance with state and local laws must be counted.
If Trump loses, “he must leave office—period,” they threatened.
Demonstrating little self-awareness, they wrote that elections are not “an exercise in controlling power” and that disenfranchising voters “strikes at the very heart” of democracy.
“We call on elected leaders at all levels, from both parties, to speak out loudly against such efforts in the weeks ahead,” they said.
Trump campaign spokesperson Thea McDonald accused Democrats of “working to shred election integrity rules across the country to stack the deck for their lackluster candidate.”
Republicans, she said, “are aiming for an election with results all Americans can trust.”
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
