Democrats have publicly come after President Donald Trump and his Republican allies for questioning the results of the election.
They’ve even declared it an unprecedented attack on the ballot. And they’ve warned Republicans in Congress not to try to disrupt the joint session on Jan. 6 when the vote will be certified.
But there’s just one problem…
The Democrats pulled the same stunt not too long ago – pretty much writing the script for what’s happening today when they contested President George W. Bush’s win over then-Sen. John Kerry.
Here’s how a CNN report put it in 2005:
“Alleging widespread ‘irregularities’ on Election Day, a group of Democrats in Congress objected Thursday to the counting of Ohio’s 20 electoral votes, delaying the official certification of the 2004 presidential election results.”
More specifically, Democrats that year did what they’re accusing Republicans of doing today.
One story was that the machines were rigged because the head of the company that made them was a Bush supporter.
While Ohio’s then-20 electoral votes were enough to swing the 2004 election either way, the results weren’t really all that close in any other sense.
Bush won the popular vote by 3 million, and Ohio by a hair over 2 percent, or nearly 120,000 votes – greater than Biden’s margin of victory in any of the states under dispute right now except for Michigan.
But rather than accept the loss… Democrats dragged out the process and even delayed the formal certification of the results.
Here’s typically what happens after a presidential election: States certify the results, then the Electoral College meets to formally cast its votes (this year on Dec. 14)… and then Congress meets in early January to count the votes and declare the winner.
All it takes is a single senator and a single member of the House to unite to object to a state’s results to delay the proceedings.
In 2004, two Democrats – the late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio and Sen. Barbara Boxer of California – objected to Ohio’s votes.
“How can we possibly tell millions of Americans who registered to vote, who came to the polls in record numbers, particularly our young people … to simply get over it and move on?” Tubbs Jones told reporters, according to CNN.
An objection causes Congress to stop the count for each chamber to then examine the objection, debate the results and vote on whether or not to accept the votes.
Both chambers would have to agree for the votes to be overturned or cast aside. It didn’t happen in 2004 – the House and Senate were under GOP control – and with the House under Democratic control it won’t happen this year, either.
But conservatives are urging action.
Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch wrote on Twitter:
Ask your senators and congressman if they will object to any Electoral College certification of Joe Biden on January 6. 202-225-3121. https://t.co/LQxuRchV09
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) November 23, 2020
Republicans in Congress haven’t said if they would attempt to raise any objections this time around, but some of Trump’s supporters have certainly hinted at last-minute drama.
“Nothing is off the table,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., told Politico.
While any such moves are unlikely to change the results of the election, they could succeed on another level.
Many Republicans have been using the chaos that followed the Nov. 3 election to finally get some attention on election reform – including more national standards for casting ballots, absentee ballots and voter ID.
And this might end up being the perfect chance to act.
— Walter W. Murray is a reporter for The Horn News. He is an outspoken conservative and a survival expert.