I recall many years ago in a civics class learning how the three branches of government were akin to a three-legged stool. Checks and balances. Legislatures pass laws, the executive branch enforces them, and the courts exist to keep both in check. Remove one, and the stool falls over.
To make this easier to understand, let’s say the legislature passes a law requiring everyone to attend the Baptist Church- which is a clear violation of the first amendment. If the executive branch does not enforce the law, the legislature has been kept in check. What if they do enforce it? The sole barrier then are the courts. What has taken place in Georgia and elsewhere regarding the presidential election is a prime example of unchecked power. The executive branch (such as election officials) does not follow the law and in many instances makes its own law. The court that is supposed to keep the executive branch in check then fails to do so.
Attorney Powell wrote a lengthy lawsuit in Georgia- it’s over 100 pages, so it won’t sit well with the “real quick” short-attention span crowd of modern America. I downloaded it and read the first 20 pages. One thing that was clear to me was that at least one credible allegation had been made in that the executive branch of Georgia failed to follow the law- in this case Georgia's Election Code and subsequently the U.S. Constitution. The result? At least 96,600 ballots were counted that should not have been counted. Despite this allegation, the court in Georgia refused to hear the case. For a court to deny justice of any type is a sad example of the times in which we are living. I call this type of situation the avalanche effect. By that time for a court to overturn the Georgia election would have been similar to trying to stop the DOT from planting costly and needless trees in a median, or getting them to follow their own rules when setting speed limits (two examples from here in Jefferson County). Almost no one wants to stand in front of an avalanche. Government makes the rules for itself. When one branch is not kept in check it is the people that ultimately pay the price, whether financially or by a loss of freedom.
The solution here is the check given the legislature. States must pass laws that make voting- and vote counting- accountable just as they do for other functions of government. I’ve suggested a low-cost in-card (not your hand or forehead) chip and pin type of voter card to reduce fraud. We have the technology, we can use it to make our future elections completely accountable- to the point where an audit could be performed to easily disprove any claims of fraud. The question is will enough Americans stand in front of the avalanche that opposes this idea?
Paul Henry