I wrote yesterday about the Madison Square Rally being a call to arms, not to voters, but it turns out that the Puerto Rican community in the United States cares that one party is willing to call PR an island of garbage. Celebrity influencers spoke out immediately, and there are tons of Puerto Rican voters in every state. They took the baked-in “Trump’s a racist,” and turned it into “Look what Trump would do to me, even if I’m a US Citizen. Oh, and remember how he refused to release aid after hurricane Maria?” Nobody knows what will happen yet, but
Osorio said on today’s Daily Blast from the New Republic that this new frame—what Trump will do to me and my friends—has the possibility of turning couch sitters into voters.Here’s the link: https://newrepublic.com/article/187638/trump-rages-fox-news-allies-suddenly-panic-rally-fiasco
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Now, about my conversation with Jonathan Winer…we talked about what engaged voters and activists can do to prevent or mitigate shenanigans that Trump’s campaign will try to pull. There are a few things to understand as you listen.
Trump and the republicans will try to cheat to overturn the election if they lose. In advance of the election, Republicans have tried to suppress the vote, purge people from the voting rolls, and generally discourage voting. My conversation with Jonathan Winer, an election attorney who worked closely with John Kerry and subsequent elections talks about what could happen at every stage between November 5 and Jan 6. He’s mostly talking about the requirements of the Electoral College Reform Act, which passed in 2022 to make shenanigans less likely. Here are the major points you should know before listening to the conversation. The Electoral College Reform Act:
Requires that states appoint electors on election day and eliminates the concept of “failed” elections, allowing states to extend voting in the case of a major natural disaster.
Does not allow states legislatures to step in and appoint electors themselves after election day.
Does not allow claims of fraud to trigger an exception to appointing electors on election day.
Makes clear that state executives MUST certify the state’s electors 6 days before the electoral college meets. This means governors must certify or ascertain the results by December 11, and the EC meets on Dec 17.
Gives the courts an expedited role in resolving disputes about states’ electors.
Law seeks to ensure that only one lawful slate of electors is presented to congress to count.
Makes clear the VP role is only ceremonial.
Changes the ability of the congress to object to a state’s results. Before, only one member of each house was needed to challenge a state’s electoral results. Now, the law changes that threshold and 1/5 of the members of each chamber is needed to contest results from any state, while requiring a majority vote of each chamber to sustain an objection to any states’ results.
One other thing: Jonathan Winer provides a prescription of what we can do to stop shenanigans and curtail Trump’s effort to steal the election.
The first is to speak out loudly and clearly that all votes must be counted, the second is to talk about the social and economic risks of chaos should the election be uncertain, and third to contact our representatives about the need to uphold the law. You can be thinking of these actions as we discuss the moments of peril throughout the process, and no doubt you can think of more.
Winer wrote out his thoughts in an article in the Washington Spectator a few months back.
And finally, please please please subscribe to this podcast/newsletter. If you can afford it (maybe you canceled your WaPo, LA Times or USA Today subscriptions?) please choose a paid subscription. But if you can’t, the content of the podcast and of my essays is always free.
Here’s a link to the raw video of the interview:
Trump WILL Try to Steal the Election. How YOU Can Help Stop It. Jonathan Winer, election lawyer. E71