We need a national popular vote — before it’s too late
A far more typical Republican, however, was Stephanopoulos’s next guest, Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.). First, Braun constructed a straw man that allegations of fraud have been “reflexively dismissed.” When Stephanopoulos pointed out that the allegations have been investigated as part of states’ certification process, Braun revealed that he’d been paying attention to the claims but tuning out the debunkings. He pointed to “boxes of ballots coming out from underneath the table” in Georgia — something that has been shown to be false. He claimed that “a couple hundred-thousand absentee ballots” were improperly cast in Wisconsin — also false. And he questioned whether the legislatures in Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin have taken the election seriously, when all three states have conducted audits.
The country is lucky that Raffensperger, not Braun, is in charge of counting Georgians’ votes. We’re lucky that Republicans would need to steal not just Georgia, but at least two other states for Trump to remain in the White House. And we’re lucky that this effort to rob the election takes its cues from a man who might as well be pictured in the dictionary next to the definition of incompetence.
But what if we’re not so lucky next time?
Because there probably will be a next time. Indeed, we nearly had a first time in 2000. On Dec. 12, 2000, the Supreme Court shut down a limited recount of four Florida counties requested by Al Gore’s campaign — a recount that, according to later studies, would have come up short. But had Gore requested a statewide recount — which those same studies suggest would have netted him enough votes — the scale of the litigation could easily have pushed the court’s decision past Dec. 12, the state’s deadline for picking electors. In that case, the choice would have been left to Florida’s GOP-controlled state legislature, who appeared all too ready to hand the presidency to George W. Bush no matter the recount.
As NBC’s Chuck Todd pointed out on “Meet the Press” on Sunday, it used to be commonplace for presidential elections to be lopsided. From 1920 to 1992, the victor won 32 or more states in 16 out of 19 presidential elections. Since 2000, the record is Bush’s 31 states in 2004. Popular-vote margins are closer, as well, but there’s a difference: Even Biden’s 4 percent margin this year, while not grand, could only be overturned by invalidating more than 7 million individual ballots in various states; to do so would be essentially impossible for one political party. But when it comes to the electoral college, all it may take is a few willing state legislatures.
The obvious answer is a national popular vote for president, whether through constitutional amendment or a state-by-state agreement like the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. But both will require Republican buy-in. In a sane world, Republicans would agree that the electoral college — already amended once before — has become almost the exact opposite of what the Founders intended, facilitating political factions’ ability to hold onto power. Less nobly, Republicans could also look at the way Texas is trending: If by midcentury, Democrats enter the starting gate with about 225 safe electoral votes — adding the Lone Star State to the West Coast, Hawaii, the Beltway, Illinois, and New York and most of its neighbors — maybe now is the time for Republicans to bail on the electoral college.
But the sad truth is Republicans want the status quo. Why? It’s the same reason that congressional Republicans are laying the groundwork to use the deficit and other excuses to hamper efforts by President-elect Joe Biden to advance an economic recovery. It’s the same reason Pennsylvania Republicans refused to allow ballots to be counted before Election Day, which created the lead change later election week that fueled the president’s ramblings. It’s the same reason that Republicans have blocked a new Voting Rights Act while cementing various vote-suppression schemes around the country.
The status quo may endanger democracy, but it helps Republicans politically. And in the Grand Old Party, the party is what matters — more than the country.
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