As Seen in Newsmax
By Steve Levy
By shamelessly removing Donald Trump‘s name from the ballot in Maine, the Pine Tree State’s secretary of state has done the country a favor by illustrating just how dubious the 2020 election was when it came to the unauthorized actions of fellow secretaries throughout the nation.
It was nothing less than remarkable as to how the media yawned over the blatantly unconstitutional actions taken by governors and secretaries of state in various states in the 2020 election.
Republicans jumped up and down that the election was being rigged. The response from the liberal media was that the complainants were MAGA crackpots and conspiracy theorists who couldn’t accept the talking point that every court in the land had rejected their “baseless” allegations.
But those of us raising alarms in 2020 were stressing that the irregularities did not necessarily have to include people colluding to vote in another’s name, but rather that there were improper votes being cast as a result of unilateral actions taken by secretaries of state outside their constitutional authority.
But now, this action by a known Democratic partisan in Maine, feeling so smug and elite that she believes she has the right to take away the franchise from the people of Maine, has crystallized just how over the line these Democratic lawmakers have gone in the last several years, and how much their cohorts in the media will cover for them.
THE MICHIGAN CASE
1. In 2021, the Michigan Court of Claims held that the secretary of state illegally took it upon herself (without legislative approval) to issue guidelines to local election officials that there should be a presumption that all mail in ballot signatures are valid, while unilaterally limiting what would constitute an invalid signature or ballot. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/15/judge-rules-secretary-state-bensons-ballot-signature-verification-guidance-invalid/4699927001/
2. Illegally mailing out unrequested ballots — Under Michigan law: “The clerk of the city or Township is the only government official empowered by statute to send a requested application.” M.C.L. section 168.75 9.3. Michigan’s secretary of state nevertheless said she possessed unwritten authority to mail absentee voter ballot applications to every registered voter in the state.
THE WISCONSIN CASES
1. A Wisconsin court ruled that the Wisconsin secretary of state wrongfully overstepped in making a blanket decision that voters can seek an absentee ballot if they make a general statement that they are homebound because of Covid. The court ruled that any such decision would have to be made by the state legislature and not a rogue Secretary of State. https://www.npr.org/2022/07/08/1100696685/wisconsin-supreme-court-ballot-drop-boxes-disability-assistance
2. A court held that authorizing drop boxes was illegal without approval from the legislature. https://www.npr.org/2022/07/08/1100696685/wisconsin-supreme-court-ballot-drop-boxes-disability-assistance
THE GEORGIA CASE
In Georgia, the Republican secretary of state eliminated the double signature verification requirement for absentee ballots without Legislative approval. The secretary allowed, via a settlement, verification simply if the signature matched the ballot application, rather than the signature on file with the board.
THE PENNSYLVANIA CASES
1. A Democratic governor and secretary of state wanted to change the rules so that mail in ballots received by the board of elections after election day would be able to count, even though the state legislature had decreed that the ballots had to be received by or on Election Day. Democratic leaders encouraged one of its advocacy groups to bring a lawsuit to bypass the legislature. The governor and secretary of state supported this rogue action, knowing that their Democratic-controlled Supreme Court would roll their way. And that’s exactly what they did.
But the court had no authority to overrule the U.S, Constitution, which clearly states that election law must be enacted by the state legislature, not the governor, not the secretary of state and not a court.
The GOP pleaded to the U..S Supreme Court to stop this unconstitutional circumvention of their authorities. In an amazing Catch-22, the Supreme Court ruled in October 2020 that they simply didn’t have enough time to rule on the issue and told the GOP lawmakers to come back after election. When they did, the Supreme Court — in a 5-4 decision led by their Trump-hating Chief Justice — claimed that the matter was now moot. From the perspective of the Republicans, it was tails they win, heads we lose.
2. The secretary of state improperly watered down the signature verification process. The League of Women Voters sued Pennsylvania to eliminate the signature verification procedures for mail-in voting seeking a declaratory judgment of Pennsylvania’s existing signature verification procedures for mail-in voting as being unlawful. The secretary of state unilaterally, and without legislative approval, settled with them, eliminating the verifications.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court improperly ratified the secretary of state’s action. The court said that, even though a signature was required, it did not have to be verified. But, you say, what about the fact that there were dozens of legal challenges in the 2020 electoral process, almost all of which were unsuccessful? However, these judicial decrees were based mostly on procedural matters, such as the plaintiffs’ lacking standing or the claims being declared moot, or that a plaintiff victory would not alter the ultimate outcome of the election. Consequently, the underlying charges of fraud and or irregularities were never deliberated upon.
It does not mean they did not exist.
Steve Levy is President of Common Sense Strategies, a political consulting firm. He served as Suffolk County Executive, as a NYS Assemblyman, and host of “The Steve Levy Radio Show.” He is the author of “Solutions to America’s Problems” and “Bias in the Media.” www.SteveLevy.info, Twitter @SteveLevyNY, steve@commonsensestrategies.com