Can a state legislature substitute its judgment for the will of the people by directly appointing their preferred slate of electors after Election Day?
The answer? No.
State Legislatures Are Prohibited by Federal Law from Usurping the Will of the Voters After the Election
Tweetable quote:Americans should rest assured that a state legislature’s post-Election Day substitution of its own preferences would violate federal law.Tweet this quote.
While the Constitution delegates to each state’s legislature the power to direct the manner for appointing its slate of electors for president, it gives Congress the power “to determine the time of chusing Electors.”
Congress, in turn, has
mandated by law that is the “Tuesday after the first Monday in November, in every fourth year succeeding every election of a President and Vice President”—which falls on Nov. 3, 2020.
For well over a century, the laws in
every state have provided for their state’s electors to be chosen through a popular election.
Although state legislatures could theoretically amend their laws to provide for legislative appointment of presidential electors if they acted
before Election Day, it would violate a federal statute and the Constitution to do so
after the Nov. 3 date set by Congress.
A state legislature overturning presidential election results and substituting its own preferences would violate federal law.
campaignlegal.org
