RESPONSE TO SENATOR DEB FISCHER (R-NE)
Senator Fischer,
1. In paragraph 2, you state that "more than 70 million
votes cast for each party’s ticket." That is factual, but it is also
somewhat deceptive. In fact, as of this date (November 21), Joe Biden has
earned 79,824,643 votes, while Donald Trump has earned 73,787,805, a difference
of more than 6,000,000 votes. In terms of percentage, Biden has captured 51.1%
and Trump 47.2%. For comparative purposes, recent elections with similar
margins of victory include the 2008 and 2012 Obama victories, the 1988 Bush Sr.
victory, and the 1980 and 1984 Reagan victories. So, yes, both Biden and Trump
received over 70 million votes, but the fact is Biden's victory compares with these historic
landslides.
2. In paragraph 3, you say that
voter turnout in Nebraska was 74%, but it was 76%. This is an easy thing to
look up at the Nebraska Secretary of State office. This is extremely important and
speaks to an even more important point: we should do everything we can to
continue to encourage high voter turnout. We should resist efforts to
disenfranchise voters. This is not a partisan statement. Both parties should
work toward more, not less, enfranchisement of our citizens.
3. Paragraph 4 is very important. You are correct. In fact,
the release of this short joint statement by officials and federal and state
levels will stand, in my opinion, as one of the most important documents of
this troubled election cycle. This is the statement that got Chris Krebs, head
of the DHS "Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency" (CISA)
fired by President Trump. The factual nature of this memo seems to be the very
crux of President Trump's problem with the election: it was a secure election,
so many of his claims turn out to be baseless. https://www.cisa.gov/news/2020/11/12/joint-statement-elections-infrastructure-government-coordinating-council-election
4. Paragraph 5 is most troubling. First, you correctly note
that "former Vice President Joe Biden is ahead in enough states to win the
presidency." Well, yes. You can see my discussion above. More to the
point, there is no election in recent memory in which the losing candidate has
not immediately conceded in the face of such an overwhelming margin of victory.
Second, you go on to state that we "know President Trump’s campaign
has every right to request recounts, legally resolve questions of voting
irregularities, and produce evidence to support any allegations of fraud."
There are several problems with this statement.
a. It
is, of course, true, that our legal system allows individuals and groups to
file lawsuits against other individuals and groups. However, even if this is
legal, should we not also consider context and propriety? I could sue my
neighbor for mowing grass in my yard because he fails, by three feet, to
observe the legal property line. Why would I do that? It is frivolous. In the
same way, the Trump campaign has filed somewhere in excess of 30 lawsuits, and
many of these suits argue about a few hundred or few thousand votes in places
where this would not make a difference.
b. The
more long-term problem with what you say here is that you seem to be advocating
for election practices that we have typically not used in the United States,
except in exceptional circumstances. The most recent election where a lawsuit
decided the election was in 2000, when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of
George W. Bush in the "Bush v Gore" case. This case decided the
status of 537 ballots which were questionable. There is simply no comparison
between this lawsuit and the legal grasping at straws by the Trump campaign.
c. You advocate a practice where every election,
from presidential elections down to school board elections at local levels,
will now feature a several-week period of legal challenges. This is ludicrous
and goes against our democratic traditions. But, by supporting the right of the
Trump campaign to do this in 2020, it is almost assured that future candidates
will engage in the same behavior. That is why concession of election results,
though no legal requirement, is important in healing after the bickering and
vituperation of political campaigns. A series of long, drawn-out lawsuits furthers national discord.
d. We also know
that the Trump campaign has sought full or partial recounts in several states
and urban counties. The Georgia hand recount revealed what was already an
apparent fact: Joe Biden won by 12,000 votes. What is more disturbing is that
the Trump campaigns has demanded partial recounts in urban areas, though these
have not always been granted under applicable state law. These cities include
Detroit, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee. The Georgia recount was driven by the
Trump campaign's problems with votes in Atlanta. What do all these cities have
in common? In all of them, either the majority or a very large percentage of
voters happen to be black.
e. Even if one were to accept the somewhat
flawed notion that any candidate can continue to engage in election-related
lawsuits and recounts, along with the obvious long-term problems, it is clear
to any concerned observer that the Trump campaign has a much more insidious
goal, and that is the undermining of our confidence in our electoral system.
Though the vast majority of lawsuits have been dismissed by competent judges, a
large percentage of our populace still somehow believes that the election was
"rigged." They believe the tales of shady characters loading false
ballots into vote counting machines. They believe the stories about
"Dominion software." They believe that a vast conspiracy operating in
several states and counties; that is, a highly coordinated scheme, is possible.
Of course, the logic is flawed. If the Democratic Party were clever enough
to pull off such a scheme, that party would also be clever enough to increase
its majority in the House of Representatives and gain a majority in the Senate.
5. Donald Trump is attempting to do
two things, both of which are shocking, given that he is a sitting president. First, he aims to retain the presidency
by any means possible. That includes not only the actions discussed above, but
also actions that are borderline unconstitutional. He already hosted
two members of the Michigan legislature at the White House; these are two
members who will vote to certify that state's election. He is inviting members
of Pennsylvania's legislature to the White House. These invitations scream
conflict of interest. Donald Trump, his campaign, and members of his legal team
have openly called for the selection of electors to the Electoral College who
will vote against the popular vote of their respective states.
6. If we, as a People, lose confidence in our electoral
process, we are taking a giant leap backwards. We have struggled for over 240
years to expand the franchise. A bloody Civil War, which killed upwards to
750,000 Americans, also resulted in giving freed slaves the right to vote under
the 15th Amendment. Women struggled for decades before being granted the right
to vote by the 19th Amendment, ratified in 2020. The 26th Amendment, ratified
in 1971, gave 18-year-old persons the right to vote. Passage of the Voting
Rights Act of 1965, as well as the ratification of the24th Amendment in 1964,
attempted to right the wrongs imposed by infamous Jim Crow laws that were
prevalent for nearly 100 years in the South.
7. Too many people have struggled, fought, and died for one
person to destroy our progress. This is not simply some sterile argument about
lawsuits and recounts. This is a struggle for the continuing progress of our
democracy. Donald Trump turned out to be the person we all knew he was -- a
sore loser who will do anything to win, and who will sacrifice anything to win,
including our democratic institutions. We cannot allow that to happen.
Sincerely,
Nebraska Constituent
Attachment: Senator Fischer Letter to James Harrold, November 20,2020
November 20, 2020
Dear James,
Thank you for contacting me about the 2020 presidential election. I appreciate you sharing your concerns with me.
The 2020 federal election cycle has been unlike any other in American history. This is mainly because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which sparked a major shift to early and mail-in voting in all U.S. states. As a result, the election for President and Vice President of the United States saw the highest voter turnout as a proportion of population in over a century, with more than 70 million votes cast for each party’s ticket.
In Nebraska, both in-person voting and early mail-in voting resulted in a record 74 percent turnout for the November general election. I applaud Nebraska for administering a free and fair election and counting all ballots in accordance with state law.
Similarly, I am pleased that the Department of Homeland Security has found no evidence of foreign interference in our elections. This is a testament to the bipartisan work of Congress and the Trump administration in recent years to support state and local election authorities.
As you know, former Vice President Joe Biden is ahead in enough states to win the presidency. But know President Trump’s campaign has every right to request recounts, legally resolve questions of voting irregularities, and produce evidence to support any allegations of fraud. Ultimately, a duly elected president will be inaugurated on January 20, 2021, with my support, and there will be a peaceful transition of power.
Again, thank you for contacting me. I encourage Nebraskans to monitor the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) website for the latest COVID-19 information: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
. Sincerely,
//signed//
Deb Fischer
United States Senator
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