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We continue to read and hear of machinations designed to manipulate our electoral system. In some states, MAGA Republican lawmakers are putting laws and rules in place to make it harder for people to vote. They are adding unnecessary steps to the process of certifying the final votes from election districts. They are building in delays to complicate the process of securing election results. The chronic issues raised by the Electoral College system relative to underrepresenting the popular vote remain for the 2024 presidential election. As we get closer to election day, strategies to complicate the results of the 2024 election are intensifying. It is increasingly apparent that “every vote counts” at every level, and that fair elections must be preserved to ensure voters’ choices are counted. If one follows the substack blog of Heather Cox Richardson, an American historian and Professor of History at Boston College, she speaks to this in detail, both from a historical perspective and relative to current events. On September 20, 2024, she says of one recent related event: “Rather than trying to win a majority of voters, just 49 days before the presidential election, Trump supporters—including Senator Graham—are making a desperate effort to use the Electoral College to keep Harris from reaching the requisite 270 electoral votes to win. It is unusual for a senator from one state to interfere in the election processes in another state, but Graham similarly pressured officials in Georgia to swing the vote there toward Trump in 2020.” Her full historical account of the electoral college up through the present is here. Cox Richardson reminds us that the 2024 presidential race is very close. Without creating discouragement, we must consider that, especially with all of the delays and machinations to influence the outcome of the election, the worst could happen. This is a call to action to focus on the congressional races. For voters in Chatham and the rest of Congressional District 19, we must keep our work and attention on electing Josh Riley to Congress as our representative. He will be a voice for us, and we need him to be that voice. In a worst case scenario, he will be a part of the bulwark against a Trump presidency. In the desired alternative, he will be a part of the supporting structures to get President Harrris’s agendas legislated. Under either scenario, Josh Riley’s election as CD19 Congressman is critical to getting Democrats positioned for action going forward!
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