The Republican Party has long claimed to revere the Constitution, so it’s shocking to see GOP Congress members rushing to override the people’s vote by challenging the validity of Joe Biden’s election when they meet to certify his electoral college win.
Fortunately, a few Republicans are working to sustain our democracy, like Utah’s own Sen. Mitt Romney, who recognizes this attempt to overthrow the election as an “egregious ploy.”
Texas Republican Chip Roy also points out that many Republicans ran on the same state ballots that are now being called fraudulent. When he forced a vote on seating those elected representatives only two Republicans still seemed worried about fraud.
Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton notes that our Constitution assigns election procedure to the states, not Congress and assigns the settlement of election disputes to the courts, not Congress (where each challenge brought by Trump has been rejected in state and federal courts as well as the Supreme Court, which holds a large conservative majority, including three Trump appointees).
If Democrats were committing election fraud why didn’t they turn state legislatures Democratic to prevent gerrymandering that makes it almost impossible for Democrats to win congressional seats in many states (including Utah)? And why not throw the Senate to the Democrats, giving Biden greater power to pass legislation?
On Wednesday too many Republicans will violate their oaths to defend the Constitution, shredding our constitutional democratic republic. The people should choose our leaders, not the other way around.
Georgia Platts, South Jordan