GOP-inclined pollster Rasmussen reports quoted Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to encourage Vice President Mike Pence to arbitrarily reverse the results of America’s democratic presidential election.
Rasmussen’s four-part Twitter thread on Sunday set steps for Pence to steal the January 6 election if Congress is to approve the electoral college vote to appoint Joe Biden as US President-elect.
The thread quotes Stalin as saying, “Those who cast the votes do not decide anything; Those who count the votes decide everything. “This then implies that the US states somehow tampered with the election results (there is absolutely no evidence to support this) and that” nothing “prevents the Vice President from” opening and counting the certificates of the six contested states ” , which refers to certain battlefield states that voted for Biden.
Come on January 6th:
(Those who cast the votes don’t decide anything. Those who count the votes decide everything. – Stalin)
“On January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence will be presented the sealed certificates with the ballot papers for the presidential election.
1/4
– Rasmussen reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) December 27, 2020
At that moment the presidency will be in his hands.
And nothing prevents Pence from refusing, under the authority conferred on him as President of the Senate (in plenary and incontestable), to open and count the certificates of the six contested states.
2/4
– Rasmussen reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) December 27, 2020
If they are certificates from non-voters (as more than 70% of Republicans believe) appointed through electoral fraud, why would he open them and count them? “
If the votes of all 7 disputed states are registered as zero, President Trump has 232 votes and Joe Biden has 222.
3/4
– Rasmussen reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) December 27, 2020
According to the 12th amendment: “[T]The votes are then counted[.] … The person with the highest number of votes for the president is the president[.]””
Reader comments?
4/4
More here – https://t.co/ehnnu84Lgi
– Rasmussen reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) December 27, 2020
It is unsure if Stalin actually said the words which historians say Rasmussen attributes to him. But being a dictator was definitely something Stalin knew.
With that in mind, Rasmussen asks why pence should count votes from “disputed states” when the “presidency will be in his hands”.
By not counting those votes and arbitrarily disenfranchising millions of American voters, Pence could hand over the majority of the remaining votes to Trump, claims Rasmussen, which makes him the election winner.
But legal experts say Pence has no power actually doing so, and that Rasmussen’s strategy was based on a misunderstanding of the law. Pence has the right to ask states to cast their votes if they have not done so by the end of December The Washington Post, but he is not authorized to reject any of the votes.
“The vice president is should not control the outcome of the process Edward Foley, Ohio State University professor of law, told The Hill that he was counting the votes from the states, ”according to the Ohio State University bill. “The Vice-President chairs the joint meeting, but does not decide which votes are to be counted.”
Another Twitter user, citing the Constitution, also pointed out the flaws in Rasmussen’s logic.
Which part of the word “shall” in Figure 12A do you think means “may”?
“The President of the Senate * opens * all documents in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives and the votes * are * then counted …”
Go straight ahead. Quote an authority. Well wait
– Michael Fisher @ 🇺🇸 (@mjf_dfw) December 28, 2020
North Carolina attorney T. Greg Doucette, who answers questions about the vote on Twitter, tweeted that voting Pence “opens the envelopes,” “gives them to the cashier, the cashier counts.” Votes can only be cast with a majority of the House and Senate, he noted.
No
538 voters were nominated; 270 EVs are required to win now
Pence has no power to “hit” anything. He opens the envelopes, gives the cashiers the certificates, the cashiers count
Congress may propose EVs at its own discretion with a separate majority of the votes of each chamber https://t.co/HUMW7ULoJ5
– T. Greg Doucette (@greg_doucette) December 22, 2020
Pence could “theoretically” interrupt the process by refusing to open the envelopes, but Doucette said the count would continue if he left on January 20.
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It can. If Pence decides I won’t open another envelope, he could theoretically pause the process until his term expires on January 20th
Nancy Pelosi takes over as President-in-Office, Chuck Grassley chairs the joint session and the count continues https://t.co/HJBJGftQue
– T. Greg Doucette (@greg_doucette) December 22, 2020
As for Pence himself, advisors to the vice president of the Post said last week he was not looking for “unnecessary drama” on Jan. 6.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
