WHEN WILL WE KNOW the outcome of the midterm elections?
asserted
WE → know → elections
If your answer is ‘when all the ballots are counted,’ think again.
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ballots → count → ?
Republicans are trying to institutionalize two later stages at which they could overturn the results.
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they → try → results
The first stage is certification: If a Democratic nominee comes out ahead, Republican governors and state legislatures could decide whether to reject the numbers.
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governors → come → numbers
The second stage is seating: If a state certifies a Democrat’s victory, Republicans in Congress could refuse to let her take office.
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her → certify → office
Donald Trump and his party are trying to convert them into routine forums for dispute.
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Trump → try → dispute
Republicans didn’t invent post-election challenges.
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Republicans → invent → challenges
Democrats have challenged elections themselves, most notably after the Bush-Gore contest of 2000.
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Democrats → challenge → 2000
But in 2020, Republicans raised the game to a new level, filing dozens of lawsuits to challenge presidential election results in multiple states.
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Republicans → raise → states
They tried to use state legislatures to overturn their losses.
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They → try → losses
And on January 6th, they turned the congressional certification of electors into a political and literal combat zone.
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they → turn → zone
Trump went on to claim that if Democrats hadn’t rigged the election, he “probably would have won all fifty” states.
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he → go → states
The latest battleground is Alaska, where Democrats allegedly conspired to put a man named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. on the ballot alongside the state’s incumbent Republican senator, Dan S. Sullivan.
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Democrats → conspire → senator
Alaskan election officials tried to solve the problem by identifying Sen. Sullivan on the ballot as the incumbent.
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officials → try → incumbent
And since Alaska has ranked-choice voting, anyone who’s confused could vote for both Dan Sullivans—one as a first choice, the other as a second—so that if the other Sullivan is eliminated while the incumbent remains in contention, their vote transfers to the incumbent.
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vote → have → incumbent
Nevertheless, if Sen. Sullivan loses, Republicans are threatening to reject the results.
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Republicans → lose → results
Two weeks ago, Trump’s Department of Justice filed suit to block Alaska “from certifying any result that may be impacted by voter confusion.
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that → file → confusion
” DOJ defined this confusion scenario as Sen. Sullivan losing the election by a margin smaller than the number of votes cast for the other Sullivan.
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Sullivan → define → Sullivan
The next day, Trump affirmed that he had told DOJ to file the suit.
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he → affirm → suit
“I’m the one that said, ‘Do it,’” he told the press.
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he → ’m → press
DOJ’s rationale for federal intervention was flimsy, and on Sunday, a federal court rejected it.
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court → reject → it
DOJ appealed the same day.
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DOJ → appeal → ?
But the administration’s underlying goal, according to Attorney General Todd Blanche, is to get Alaska itself to withhold certification.
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Alaska → accord → certification
“If a court ultimately determines that [the election] was decided because of confusion and not the will of the voters, then we do not think the states should certify,” Blanche explained on Face the Nation a week ago.
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Blanche → determine → Nation
He said DOJ’s aim was “to allow a process for Alaska to decide who should be certified as a winner.”
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who → say → winner
Whatever Election Day brings, we’ll need independent journalism to hold the powerful accountable, to challenge falsehoods and hypocrisy, and to help figure out what comes next.
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what → bring → falsehoods
Join a community that’s committed to that work—through 2028 and beyond.
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that → join → 2028
In the past few days, Alaska’s Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, has hinted in several interviews that the state might overturn a victory by the Democratic nominee, former Rep. Mary Peltola.
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state → hint → nominee
On Friday, Dunleavy was asked on NewsNation whether he would certify a Peltola win.
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he → ask → win
“If we find out there’s wrongdoing, and if that means that the certification then is stopped or changed, then that’s what happens,” he replied.
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he → find → ?
Dunleavy also suggested that even if Peltola were certified as the winner, the state might play a subsequent role in blocking her from taking office.
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state → suggest → office
“If we conclude that . . . there were things that should not have happened—let me put it that way—that are illegal, we will act on that,” he said.
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he → conclude → that
“And that may in fact impact whether somebody is seated in the U.S. Senate.
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somebody → impact → Senate
On Fox News, anchors and pundits are chattering with excitement at the prospect of defying a Peltola victory.
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anchors → chatter → victory
On Thursday, Ari Fleischer, a former press secretary to President George W. Bush, said that if Peltola were to win by a small margin, “I don’t know that the Senate is going to seat her.
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Senate → say → her
On Saturday, Jason Chaffetz, a Fox contributor and former chairman of the House Oversight Committee, suggested that DOJ’s investigation of the election could “take it to the point that she doesn’t get seated.”
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she → suggest → point
On Monday, Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s former political adviser, told Fox & Friends that if Peltola were to win, “I don’t think they should seat her.”
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they → tell → her
It’s not just the talking heads: Republican senators, who could actually move to stop Peltola from being seated, seem open to the idea.
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who → ’ → idea
On Saturday, Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) tweeted, “This was a fraud perpetrated against the people of Alaska.
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This → tweet → Alaska
Under no circumstances should Mary Peltola be seated if she wins an election in a fraudulent manner.”
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she → seat → manner
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
