A Proposal For Democratic Governors In States With Republican-Controlled Legislatures

 

My friend Jack Hannold came up with an interesting idea and he asked me to get it to swing state Governors Tom Wolf (D-PA), Gretchen Whitmer (MI), Tim Walz (D-MN), Steve Bullock (D-MT), Tony Evers (D-WI) and Roy Cooper (D-NC). Especially to Tom Wolf in Pennsylvania. After Trump's shout out to the violent, neo-fascist Proud Boys Tuesday night, it becomes even more salient. Even far right former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) recognized the disastrous tactical mistake Trump made. Trump never lies condemning his supporters, no matter how heinous. "For some reason," said Santorum of Trump's refusal to condemn the fascistic Proud Boys, "he didn’t and I think that was a huge gaffe. And it’s been typical of the president when he gets backed into a corner he doesn’t like to be forced to say something. He made a huge mistake."

Guest Post
-by Jack Hannold

Every Democratic governor in a state where the legislature is controlled by the GOP should quietly prepare to activate that state’s National Guard during the weekend before the November election.

In states with either “open carry” or “concealed carry” laws, such governors should issue emergency executive orders barring all persons, residents and visitors to the state alike, from carrying weapons on their persons during the week of the election-- and this order should clearly include all off-duty law enforcement personnel.

The National Guard should be used for two purposes during the first week of November. First, the Guard should protect polling places on Election Day, November 3, 2020, by (1) preventing armed persons from entering polling stations, (2) responding to complaints from citizens or election officials about dubious “poll watchers” intimidating voters and (3) enforcing any and all applicable laws against electioneering within, or illegally close to, a polling station.

Second, the Guard should be charged with ensuring the security both of voting machines and of all paper ballots (including absentee and provisional ballots) at least until the results of the presidential election, and possibly the results of all federal and state contests, are known. The Guard should also be used to protect officials counting the ballots from harassment techniques such as the infamous “Brooks Brothers Riot” that stopped the counting in Florida in 2000.

Democratic governors should also consider embargoing the public release of election results until a clear winner of the presidential race has been determined. As a practical matter, that means that the vote counters should keep an internal running tally of four categories of votes: (1 and 2) the raw number of votes for each of the two leading presidential candidates, (3) the aggregate number of votes for all third-party, independent and write-in presidential candidates and (4) the number of un- counted ballots. None of these figures should be released until the difference between the two top presidential candidates is greater than 50 percent of the number of uncounted votes.

That could make it impossible to release results on election night, or even by Friday, November 6, but it may well also make it impossible for Donald Trump to claim victory prematurely on the basis of the “red mirage” (i.e., the incomplete results from other states on the morning of November 4).

Republicans will certainly try to fight such actions. As a last resort, Democratic governors should consider a special, limited form of martial law which would not restrict any activities unrelated to the election, but which would allow the measures suggested above to be implemented.