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In November and December, American democracy showed resilience and strength. In the midterm elections, most of the candidates who refused to run for U.S. Senate, Governor, Secretary of State, and Attorney General in battleground states lost. Congress passed his 1887 Electoral College Amendment, signed by President Biden. This made it clear that the vice president’s role was a ceremonial one, and raised the threshold for challenging state voter lists from his one member of the House and Senate to his 20%. of each meeting room member. The commission’s final report on Jan. 6 was based largely on the testimony of conservative Republicans, who argued that Donald Trump orchestrated an attempt to overturn the results of his 2020 presidential election. I made a strong case. “The safest place in American history”
Lesser-known, but less important, three Arizona judges (all appointed by a Republican governor) briefly handled a case filed by a prominent election denier.
Appearing before a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge, Judge Melissa Julian, an attorney for Republican nominee for Secretary of State Mark Finkem, made a number of allegations. With 80,000 missing votes in Maricopa and Pima counties, he called current Secretary of State and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs “an election she hoped would benefit — an astonishing emergence of fraud.” and unethical conduct, accusing him of refusing to back down from “displaying a political cause.” Defeated by more than 100,000 votes, Finchem called for re-election.
Judge Julian declared that “it was not wrongful act for the Secretary of State to communicate with other agencies to ensure that canvases and certifications were completed.” They are legal conclusions masquerading as facts.” Judge Julian dismissed the case “prejudicially” barring plaintiffs from making the same allegations to another court.
Republican candidate for Arizona Attorney General Abe Hamade, who trails Democratic opponent Chris Mays by 511 votes, did not allege fraud in his lawsuit. Instead, he argued that an error by election officials led to the miscounting of the votes, which is why Mojave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jansen allowed parties to examine his sample of 2,300 votes. Hamade’s attorney later conceded, but the tests did not change the results.
“What are we doing here?” asked Dan Barr, Mayes’ attorney. “People can’t complain without facts.” In his 37 years of law practice, Barr said, “I’ve never wasted so much time.” . Judge Jantzen declared the case dismissed, agreeing that “you have not proven your case.” On December 29, a recount confirmed that Mays had beaten Hamade by 280 votes.
In mid-December, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson dismissed 8 of 10 counts in the election case of Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who beat Katie Hobbs by 17,000 votes. rice field). That Maricopa County declared the results invalid, and that Hobbes violated the First Amendment by flagging her post for possible deletion by Twitter (and costing Lake’s vote) ). Lake also claimed that he had the right to be declared the winner.
Justice Thompson granted two arguments: Problems caused by poor heat settings in printers and “shrink-to-fit” settings in various locations, Lake maintains and disenfranchises 15,000 to 30,000 voters and vote contractors “chain of control” and allowed. Her family asked for the ballot to be added to the ballot count, she claimed.
After a two-day process in which none of Lake’s witnesses professed to personally know the intentions of the fraud, one of them said that those whose ballots were initially rejected by the printers would subsequently vote. “The duty of this court is not only to listen to the public’s protests,” he said. “Courts cannot accept speculation or conjecture in lieu of clear and compelling evidence.” Maricopa County officials also indicated their intention to seek sanctions against Lake’s attorney.
One of Katie Hobbs’ attorneys said it should have been an obvious conclusion. ”
So on New Year’s Day 2023, Americans have some reason to hope that threats to democracy have subsided.
Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. He (with Stuart Bloomin)Rude Republic: Nineteenth-Century Americans and Their Politics”
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