Former President Donald Trump has a well-established history of not accepting election results that don’t go his way. But as the Supreme Court rules in favor of legal efforts by Republican governors to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls, the Democratic Party must step up and reassure voters, whom it has given plenty of reason for concern, about wanting election integrity and honoring the results.
Democratic officials doubtless want voters to forget, but they have a long and storied history of refusing to certify presidential election results. It is not a Republican practice. Democrats’ constant refrain is that America’s democracy depends on Trump not being reelected, but they must demonstrate that commitment to democracy by honoring the election result if he wins.
In October, three Democrats issued statements raising the possibility they would work to delegitimize Trump’s election. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told reporters he would certify the election results only if the election was “free, fair, and honest” and that if Trump wins, he would “definitely” have doubts about the fairness of the process.
Similarly, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) said he would certify the election “assuming everything goes the way we expect it to. … We have to see what happens.” Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) added that she would want to “make sure that all the rules have been followed” before she would commit to accepting the results.
In other words, they are setting themselves up to deny that the election is fair merely by looking at who wins. This is not compatible with a commitment to democracy and our republic.
Taken together and considering the long history of Democrats seeking to undermine Republican presidential victories, these statements are unacceptable.
In 2001, then-Rep. Alcee Hastings objected to certifying President George Bush’s electoral victory because of “overwhelming evidence of official misconduct, deliberate fraud, and an attempt to suppress voter turnout.” The Florida Democrat provided no proof to back up these claims, but that did not prevent him from voicing them on the floor of the House. Not to be outdone, then-Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) both echoed Hastings’s fraud claims, again without producing any evidence.
Fast forward four years, and the number of Democrats refusing to certify Bush’s reelection grew. In addition to Waters, Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and then-Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones refusing to certify, there was then-California Sen. Barbara Boxer as a newcomer to election denial. Since a senator had joined a member of the House in refusing to certify, it triggered two hours of debate, during which Democrats claimed that “the democratic process had been thwarted” and the election “stolen.”
In 2017, the Democratic Party’s election deniers were back, with Lee and McGovern claiming in proof-free statements that “illegal activities engaged by the government of Russia” had compromised the electoral results.
Democrats can argue that these unfounded allegations of fraud and election interference did no harm because they were rejected by both chambers of Congress. It is also true that all these efforts made the Democratic Party look bitter and unhinged.
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These refusals to accept the result of the presidential election delayed the counting of Electoral College votes by just a couple of hours, but they also paved the way for Trump to take the gambit further and push for then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject the election results entirely.
Both sides should commit to accepting next week’s election results. Perhaps the party that says its opponent is a would-be autocrat could lead the way.