House Freedom Caucus chair suggests North Carolina Legislature could assign electors before votes are tallied
CNN
The chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus suggested that legislators in the battleground state of North Carolina could potentially allocate their state’s electoral votes to Donald Trump before votes are counted because of the possible disenfranchisement of voters in Western North Carolina, a plan which state election officials called illegal and Republicans have criticized.
The chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus suggested that legislators in the battleground state of North Carolina could potentially allocate their state’s electoral votes to Donald Trump before votes are counted because of the possible disenfranchisement of voters in Western North Carolina, a plan which state election officials called illegal and Republicans have criticized. Reacting to a presentation from a pro-Trump activist who argued that North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature could give the state’s electoral votes to Trump due in part to complications from Hurricane Helene, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland said, “That makes a lot of sense.” “But how do you make the argument in other states? I mean otherwise it looks like it’s just a power play,” Harris said. “With North Carolina, I mean, it’s legitimate. I mean there are a lot of people who aren’t going to get to vote, and it may make the difference in that state.” The activist, Ivan Raiklin, who has previously pushed baseless theories about how the 2020 election was compromised, said during his presentation Thursday that because the hurricane had damaged many western counties, displaced some ballots and hindered the postal service, state legislators in North Carolina could decide the election. Raiklin posted video of his presentation and Harris’ comments on X. Raiklin cited the Constitution’s Article II Section I Clause II, which says that each state is to appoint its electors. Earlier in his presentation, Raiklin called the process an option when legislators are “obligated to remedy” election issues. “How do we enfranchise 25% of the state, re-enfranchise them? You run a joint session by the speaker of the House calling on it, the Senate majority leader calling on it, and then allocating your 16 electoral votes in North Carolina,” Raiklin said.
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