Congressional Record/Volume 167/Issue 4/Senate/Counting of Electoral Ballots/Arizona Objection Debate/Cardin Speech
Mr. Cardin. Mr. President, not liking whom the voters choose to vote for in an election does not mean it is a fraudulent election. Enabling such talk and actively working to disseminate false information that cripples our government is in itself a fraud committed against the American people and our Constitution.
This past November, the American people voted in the highest numbers we have seen in our Nation’s history. More than 155 million Americans cast a ballot in what was a free and fair election.
A clear majority voted for former Vice President Joe Biden over President Donald Trump. This was not the closest election in our Nation’s history by a long shot. President-Elect Joe Biden won by more than 7 million votes. He and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris won 306 electoral votes. Donald Trump and Mike Pence received 232 electoral votes.
Given the tremendous impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our country, everyone should be overwhelmed that Americans turned out in such strong numbers for this election. People should not have to choose between casting their ballot and protecting their own health and their family’s health. The pandemic wreaked havoc in so many of our lives for much of last year, which is why our election officials in most States responded by taking special measures and precautions to protect the right to vote while safeguarding the health and well-being of voters and election judges alike.
Election security officials, Federal and those in all 50 States and the District of Columbia—Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—have all certified that we held a free and fair election despite these extraordinary circumstances. The Department of Homeland Security, DHS, stated that the November 3 election was “the most secure in American history” and that “there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.”
President Trump responded how we would expect a would-be autocrat to respond, by firing the head of the DHS agency overseeing election security, pursuing baseless and groundless lawsuits, and promoting wild conspiracy theories about a rigged election. These lawsuits repeatedly have been dismissed as frivolous by both State and Federal judges appointed by both Republican and Democratic Chief Executives.
There is simply no evidence of widespread voter fraud claims in this election that can credibly affect the outcome of the election, which even former U.S. Attorney General William Barr—speaking on behalf of the Department of Justice—acknowledged. In December, the electoral college met to certify the results, and all of the States and the District of Columbia have now regularly reported their results to Congress, pursuant to the 12th Amendment to the Constitution.
In Pennsylvania, a panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected President Trump’s lawsuit making claims that a State court had already dismissed. Stephanos Bibas—a judge whom President Trump appointed—wrote, “Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.”
On Monday, January 4, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, James Boasberg—whom George W. Bush originally appointed to the bench—dismissed yet another frivolous lawsuit seeking to stop Congress from certifying President President-Elect Joe Biden’s victory when it meets in joint session to tally the electoral college votes on Wednesday.
In a 7-page opinion, Judge Boasberg noted that the plaintiffs had filed in the wrong court; did not have standing to sue; and had made no effort to serve defendants with the suit, a legal requirement. He indicated that he was contemplating referring the case to the Court’s Committee on Grievances “for potential discipline of Plaintiffs’ counsel.” More importantly, he wrote, “the suit rests on a fundamental and obvious misreading of the Constitution.” He concluded, “It would be risible were its target not so grave: the undermining of a democratic election for President of the United States.”
After being shut down again and again by the courts and State election officials—the people who run the elections—President Trump has continued his sordid campaign to undermine the rule of law in our Nation. He continues to fan the flames of division in our Nation, including encouraging fringe elements seeking to declare martial law or have the military intervene to overturn the election results. This demagoguery led all 10 former Secretaries of Defense who are still living—Republicans and Democrats alike—to warn against any attempt to involve the military in pursuing claims of election fraud, arguing that it would take the United States into “dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory.”
President Trump and his enablers’ ceaseless provocations call into question whether we can have a peaceful and orderly transition of power in the United States. This concern is not theoretical, as we saw today, as a lawless mob encouraged by the President temporarily took control of our sacred Capitol.
President Trump’s recent phone call to pressure the Georgia secretary of state to “find” the votes he needs to win the State is his latest failure to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
Historically, American Presidents have understood that America is a democracy and not an autocracy or a cult of personality. I find it unfathomable that we even need to say that out loud.
Elected legislators cannot, in good conscience, allow President Trump to continue to act like a dictator by trying to undermine valid election results and trash and burn our Republic on his way out of office.
If a foreign leader acted in such a blatant way to overturn legitimate election results, the full U.S. Congress would forcefully condemn such autocratic and undemocratic moves.
My congressional colleagues who are objecting to the electoral college results without any evidence or legal basis must stop coddling President Trump’s insatiable ego. They must remember their oath is to the Constitution and not the President.
Sixty years ago, John F. Kennedy warned that people who foolishly seek power by riding the back of the tiger ultimately end up inside its belly. People should heed that advice. It is time to put country before personal ambition.