Better article imo
[
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... de/616424/](
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... de/616424/)
The important bits for redditors that won't read it:
>According to sources in the Republican Party at the state and national levels, the Trump campaign is discussing contingency plans to bypass election results and appoint loyal electors in battleground states where Republicans hold the legislative majority. With a justification based on claims of rampant fraud, Trump would ask state legislators to set aside the popular vote and exercise their power to choose a slate of electors directly. The longer Trump succeeds in keeping the vote count in doubt, the more pressure legislators will feel to act before the safe-harbor deadline \[December 8th\] expires.
States that Biden won but are controlled by Republican state legislatures could then go on to appoint double sets of electoral voters (one set for Trump chosen by the legislature, and one set for Biden as winner of the popular vote chosen by the governor or secretary of state). The next deadline is January 6, when the electoral votes are counted.
>January 6 comes just after the new Congress is sworn in. Control of the Senate will be crucial to the presidency now.
>
>Pence, as president of the Senate, would hold in his hands two conflicting electoral certificates from each of several swing states. The Twelfth Amendment says only this about what happens next: “The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted.”
>
>Note the passive voice. Who does the counting? Which certificates are counted?
>
>The Trump team would take the position that the constitutional language leaves those questions to the vice president. This means that Pence has the unilateral power to announce his own reelection, and a second term for Trump. Democrats and legal scholars would denounce the self-dealing and point out that Congress filled the gaps in the Twelfth Amendment with the [Electoral Count Act](
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... 87/615994/), which provides instructions for how to resolve this kind of dispute. The trouble with the instructions is that they are widely considered, in Foley’s words, to be “convoluted and impenetrable,” “confusing and ugly,” and “one of the strangest pieces of statutory language ever enacted by Congress.”
tl;dr in the case of a contested election, it is 100% legal and very cool for states to bypass the popular vote, which will result in Pence casting the only ballot that matters.
This scenario would certainly go the supreme court, where Barrett and Kavanaugh could be the deciding votes.
*Edited portion below:*
Please do not engage in violence. Escalating violence will allow Trump to federalize the national guard and declare martial law. The Proud Boys will be out there beating on protesters trying to start mass violence so that Trump can stay in power. Don't fall for it.
General strikes and nonviolent resistance are far more effective at swaying regular, non politically engaged Americans to join in. The more people that join, the stronger the movement will be.
[
https://protecttheresults.com/](
https://protecttheresults.com/)