Could we reverse a hacked presidential election?

[yallerdawg]

The Constitution provides no clear answer — and we need a solution.

Source: Vox, by Vinay Nayak and Samuel Breidbart


What would happen if we discovered that Russians hacked into the results of the 2016 presidential election and tipped the outcome in favor of Donald Trump — literally changed the vote totals?

*****

One tool to resolve a hacked election is that old, most vilified institution: the Electoral College. While many see the Electoral College as archaic and inherently undemocratic, the very mechanism that allows electors to deviate from the popular vote may be the simplest way to reverse an undemocratic election result. If notified of the outcome-altering interference in time, the electors could mitigate the damage by selecting a different candidate.

*****

Does a president who unknowingly benefits from illegal hacking commit a high crime or misdemeanor? That’s far from clear. Is a president who is healthy and competent, but illegitimately elected, unfit to discharge the powers and duties of his office? To some degree that’s for Congress for decide, and the Supreme Court might defer to legislators who conclude that a president is unfit to serve. But the answer to that question, too, is ambiguous.

*****

We should act before we find ourselves thrust into a constitutional crisis of historic dimensions. But any solution to this issue — most likely in the form of a constitutional amendment — would require bipartisanship in a time of unprecedented polarization. If recent history is any indicator, the Republican-controlled Congress (and Republican-controlled state legislatures) will be unwilling to work with Democrats to remedy this constitutional defect.

In the meantime, our Constitution leaves us powerless to protect against those waiting for the right moment to subvert our electoral system, assuming they have not already done so.

Read it all at: https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/10/12/16463770/hacked-election-constitution-election


"Unknowingly."

[Iliyah]

1. It could be null and void across board

and bring back number 44 until a new untainted election can be done.

[yallerdawg]

7. That's REALLY outside the purview of the US Constitution.

Count the votes.

Electoral College "certifies" the results as a confirmation.

It's done.

...The founders explicitly conceived of the Electoral College as a mechanism to prevent an illegitimate president from taking office. In the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton wrote that the Electoral College was designed to check any “foreign powers [hoping] to gain an improper ascendant in our councils,” and that electors should guard against foreign capture of the presidency in particular.

[Not Ruth]

2. You can do anything if public opinion is strong enough

But it takes time, for instance it took 38 years to bring down Weinstein

[LuckyCharms]

13. I agree with this.

The constitution may not provide a remedy, but anything can be done if it is willed to be done.

[DK504]

3. Paper ballots and get rid of the Electoral College.

[ProudLib72]

4. Don't forget hand counted!

It's those Diebold tabulation machines that were easiest to hack.

[onecent]

5. And the people are being voted on HAVE TO HAVE THEIR W-2 IN LINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Irish_Dem]

6. The most important thing is to prevent it from happening again.

And there is no sign that is going to happen. Russia is still in charge.

[imanamerican63]

8. What?

Why would we do the very thing they did and now we have broke the very same laws! Aren't we better than them? Bad idea!!!!

[yallerdawg]

9. What?

That's an interesting take on a headline!

[madville]

10. Not possible

There is no mechanism for it.

2020 is the only viable and realistic option to get a Democrat into the White House again.

[stevenleser]

11. There is only one way and to say it is unlikely is an understatement

First, the President has to be seen as complicit in the hacking. So lets make that a given for the moment.

Once an investigation is had and this is all proven, the Attorney General has to propose a deal to the President and other senior members of his party. To avoid prosecution once you are impeached or once you are out of office, you have to perform the following steps:

1. Your Vice President has to resign.
2. You have to name your erstwhile General Election Opponent as your new Vice President. Members of your party must vote to confirm this.
3. You must then resign as POTUS.

If this is not followed, the book will be thrown at the President and all co-conspirators, there will be a showy public trial and that entire political party will be dragged into the mud.

This has the advantage of being possible, which many other proposed remedies do not have. But it is still highly unlikely.

Update:
Now, if we take the hypothetical situation of a President who benefited from a hacking and honestly had no idea it was happening on their behalf? There is no mechanism to deal with that. You would have to have a POTUS and VPOTUS and party that viewed democratic elections as sacrosanct and would perform the steps I outlined above without any threats hanging over their heads. The GOP definitely does not fit that description. Would Democrats do it? I'd like to think so. I am not sure though.

[Demsrule86]

12. No, we couldn't sadly.