I am a recently retired Presbyterian pastor. I majored in political science in college, and pastoral theology in seminary. I have always loved American history, sometimes thinking I should have majored in history rather than political science. Over the last 10-15 years I have done a significant amount of reading on American presidents and presidential history. So I approach issues with a background in Bible and theology, as well as a good understanding of American politics and norms.
I have been voting in presidential elections and other elections since 1976. There are years when the candidate for whom I voted has won. There are years when the candidate for whom I voted has lost. Once the results were announced, I either celebrated my victory or was saddened by my loss. But I always understood that the person who won the majority of votes was the one who was elected. In 2000, when we didn’t know who won the presidential election for over a month, until the Supreme Court made its ruling, once the announcement was made, and Al Gore conceded to George W. Bush (for the sake of the American people, Gore said), I recognized that George Bush was the president-elect. That is how the system operates. It was a unique situation that year, with the Supreme Court having to be involved in the election. But the court ruled, Bush won, and in 6 weeks or so he was inaugurated as the president. Again, that is how the system operates, and has operated for well over 200 years. Yes, there were some elections that were controversial – 1800, 1824, 1876, for instance – but in each case when the results were announced, the results were respected (ok, in 1824 Jackson felt he wasn’t treated properly in the House of Representatives, but that was more because of a possible deal between John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay). Announcement made. New president is inaugurated.
I have never seen a situation, though, where there has been a significant effort to negate and effectively disqualify the American voter. The year 2020 has seen so much that has been weird, bizarre, frightening, strange, and maddening. It is so sad, as well as quite disturbing, to know that some members of Congress, both Senate and House, are willing to totally disregard the Constitution of the United States, to turn their backs on the American voter, to buy into conspiracy theories which have never been offered as evidence in court, and to so cavalierly ignore the oath that they took to uphold the Constitution, in order to pursue an effort to overturn the election even though multiple courts have thrown out their lawsuits, saying that no evidence of fraud has been produced.
The most recent example of this is Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri who has said he will contest the counting of electoral votes on January 6, claiming that Pennsylvania illegally allowed votes to be counted that should not have been counted. State courts have already looked at this and thrown the case out. But Mr. Hawley seems to think he can sidestep or ignore the different courts, presumably also the Supreme Court, because he doesn’t like the results of the presidential election of 2020. Well, Mr. Hawley, that is how the system works. That is what the Constitution says. You swore to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.
To all the senators and congresspersons who are thinking about trying to overturn the election, it is hoped that they will understand they are not only trying to overturn the election, but they are trying to overturn the norms of how we elect our political leaders in this country, and to totally disregard what a majority of the American people have said. To continue to do what Mr. Hawley suggests is to move us away from a rich history of this great American experiment, and move us toward a very scary kind of autocracy.
The United States is a great and wonderful country, in large part because of how we elect our leaders, and because of the peaceful transfer of power we have seen in all elections until now. We cannot permit people who simply don’t like the results of an election to overturn the will of the American people.
Perspectives on Contemporary Issues 