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In a New York Times column, the out MSNBC host worries about Republican efforts to fail to certify a Kamala Harris victory.
Rachel Maddow is worried about the outcome of the presidential election — and it’s not because of any doubts about Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
No, she’s worried about Trump-supporting Republicans’ efforts to fail to certify the vote.
In a New York Times column, Maddow notes that Gerald L.K. Smith, a racist demagogue prominent in the mid-20th century, talked about the possibility of throwing the 1960 election to Republican Richard Nixon, even though Democrat John F. Kennedy had clearly won the Electoral College. Smith wasn’t able to put his scheme into action, and it was far-fetched in any case, but now Trumpers have refined the process.
“Since Donald Trump and Ronna McDaniel, the then-chair of the Republican National Committee, phoned local officials in Michigan in November 2020 to encourage them not to certify vote totals, Republicans have quietly seeded county and state election boards with eager allies,” Maddow writes. “Election boards across the country now include Republican officials who have not only propounded Mr. Trump’s lies about the last presidential election being ‘stolen,’ they have tested how far they can go in denying the certification of the vote.”
Georgia’s election board has adopted a rule that gives county officials “the option to delay or refuse certification in order to make a ‘reasonable inquiry’ into the results. What counts as a ‘reasonable inquiry?’ The new rule does not say,” the out MSNBC host reports.
The rule conflicts with Georgia law, which requires county officials to certify results within a week of the election, so it likely will be challenged in court. “But in a state where Republicans have delayed or refused certification at least seven times since 2020 — more than in any other state — the rule injects a new layer of murk into the legal waters less than 100 days before the election,” Maddow writes.
Also, in a vote that was pending when Maddow’s column was published Monday, the state board OK’d a rule that could further delay certification. “The ‘Rule for Reconciliation Prior to Certification’ will allow for a hand recount of votes to ensure ‘the total number of ballots cast’ does not exceed ‘the total number of persons who voted,’ according to the language of the rule,” CNN reports.
“Nothing about this changes the absolute mandatory duty to certify at the county level, seven days, six days after the election, and nobody should, should have any mistake,” Sarah Tindall Ghazal, the board’s only Democratic-appointed member, told CNN. She and the board’s chairman, John Fervier, both voted against the new rule, which was approved 3-2.
Maddow envisions a scenario in which Georgia could decide the election, but county officials refuse to certify a Harris victory. There could be efforts in other swing states too, she notes.
There is a way to fight this, she concludes. “Now is the time to get to know your local election board, especially if you live in a place where election denialism has taken hold, and where certification refusals may be coming,” she advises. “Public awareness and vigilance can make a difference.”
