Republicans are trying to take the Trump fake electors narrative and tie it to Democrats
Sudiksha Kochi
USA TODAY
Sept. 2023
But some conservatives argue that Democrats deployed a similar tactic in Hawaii during the 1960 election between then Vice President Richard Nixon and Democratic challenger John F. Kennedy - a comparison that holds no water.
Though Kennedy beat Nixon in the 1960 election, Hawaii’s results remained largely uncertain since the initial count found that Nixon beat Kennedy in the state by less than 150 votes - a narrow margin
that was originally certified by the Hawaii's Republican
lieutenant governor.
A lawsuit was soon filed and a
court ordered a recount of votes in the state, which was still taking place on Dec. 19, 1960 - the date set for electors to meet and cast their ballots. On that day, Republican electors sent a certificate to Congress with their three votes for Nixon.
But at the same time, Democrat electors cast their three votes for Kennedy and
sent their own documents to Congress. The recount
found that Kennedy won Hawaii by 115 votes and a court ordered his win to be certified, according to Joan Meyer, a partner at the law firm Thompson Hine.
But the 1960 case and what happened in the aftermath of 2020 are noticeably different.
“In Trump's case there were no genuine grounds for uncertainty about the outcome of the election, no ongoing recount, and Trump's slates of fake electors were assembled with the intent to sow confusion, buffalo Congress and the Vice President, and stop them from certifying the genuine election results,” said David Alan Sklansky, a law professor at Stanford University...
Republicans are trying to take the Trump fake electors narrative and tie it to Democrats