As Vice President, Kamala Harris can discard the electoral votes cast for a Republican.
Why not?
Trump and the "Stop the Steal" crowd say the Vice President has the power to discard electoral votes.
OK, Vice President Harris, say you think it is a good idea.
It is an empty threat because no one remotely thinks that the Democrats would attempt turnabout.
Recent reporting has made clear that the "Stop the Steal" effort was not just idle showboating. Trump had a comprehensive plan and Mike Pence was torn over whether to implement it. Plan A for Trump was to win the election; he came close, but lost. Plan B was for Republican election officials in key states to void or reverse their elections, either by "finding" votes in Georgia, by having a Republican governor in Arizona say the election was fraudulent, or by having legislative majorities in key states do it by claiming plenary power to choose an alternative slate of electors. Trump tried Plan B with phone calls and White House visits to election officials, but enough people with roles in election administration were unwilling to call foul, so that was unsuccessful.
Plan C was to have Pence use unverified accusations of fraud to justify claiming state elections were doubtful and to discard Biden electoral votes. It was expected to cause chaotic civil disturbances, requiring martial law. In that context, Pence would refer the election to the House of Representatives, a Constitutional remedy in the event of a failed election, letting the House with one vote per state choose Trump.
Trump's claims of a stolen election are loud and persistent. Polls this week suggest some 28% of Americans believe Trump and believe the election was stolen from him, and 8% of Americans tell polls violence is justified to restore Trump to the presidency. There is quiet maneuvering. In Georgia a U.S. Representative is giving up a seat to run for Georgia Secretary of State, the third highest position in the state. Trump gave his enthusiastic endorsement. Career election officials in states with Republican legislatures are being replaced with partisan ones. Plan B is underway for future elections.
Plan C, Vice Presidential power to choose the president, sits out there as an idea unchallenged by Republican officeholders and thought leaders. Their silence is validating Trump.
Is this an extraordinarily dangerous precedent, especially when the sitting Vice President is Kamala Harris? If the Democratic candidate lost the election in 2024, couldn't she just discard a few inconvenient electoral votes and elect a Democrat?
No. She won't do that.
No. She won't do that. Republican officeholders can remain silent about Plans B and C in the secure knowledge that a presidential coup d'état is a one-way street. Trump would try it. Biden would not. The Democratic brand has been locked in: Elections matter. There is one "strong man" candidate, Trump. Biden is a legislator, an institutionalist, a senator who got kicked upstairs because he was too old to be dangerous. Strong man government isn't in Biden's nature.
The validity of elections is on the political table and parties are choosing their sides. Democrats support elections. So do Republicans when it comes to every office but the presidency. Republicans are in process of developing a different attitude on presidential elections. Republicans are praising partisan "election audits." The one in Arizona is the first of many. At Trump's urging the Republican governor of Texas agreed to do election audits in Texas counties that Trump won, even after the Texas governor had averred that the Texas election went smoothly. A new meme is settling in among the GOP electorate: Elections aren't a trustworthy way to choose presidents.
Because Democrats are presenting themselves as virtuous defenders of orderly transitions in government, Republican officeholders are free to ignore the precedents they are setting. No one thinks for a moment that Kamala Harris will discard electoral votes in states that vote Republican to keep Biden in office.
That lets discarding presidential elections be on-brand for Republicans and that idea isn't fading away. It is becoming normalized.