Episode 2: Bullets Dodged, Part 2 – The Faithless and the Feckless

January 27, 2021

More constitutional minefields on the road from Election to Inauguration.  Faithless electors; SCOTUS follies; Ministers and ministerial duties; The West Wing, again.

Continuing our discussion of the various disasters that might have befallen America during the election period, this time exploring the period after the election and before the Electoral College, and then as Congress prepared to meet and certify the vote.  The toxic mixture of the Greeley precedent and Faithless Electors was rendered a veritable Chernobyl by a 2020 Supreme Court decision that Akhil finds, shall we say, imperfect.  Life imitates art (The West Wing, again)?  Actually, it’s more frightening than that.

Show Notes:

Chiafalo v. Washington

The “Faithless Elector” case, Chiafalo v. Washington, 591 U. S. ____ (2020), 140 S. Ct. 2316.  Opinion of the Court.

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The Electoral Count Act

The key section of US Code which is now generally referred to as the “Electoral Count Act” – 3 U.S. Code Section 15.

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Clip from West Wing episode, “Twenty Five;” wherein VP has resigned and President implements 25th Amendment temporarily.