Trust the Process

This Week in Democracy

• An overwhelming majority of voters—about 94%—believe the presidential election results are accurate, according to a post-election poll from Reuters and Ipsos. It’s a significant jump from 2020, when 34% of voters had doubts about the legitimacy of election results—doubts that were amplified because of lies promoted by Donald Trump.
• New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan delayed Trump’s sentencing in his criminal hush money case. Merchan did not set a new sentencing date but set a schedule for Trump’s lawyers to make the argument that his convictions should be dismissed altogether. Prosecutors said that they would oppose those arguments.
• The Georgia Court of Appeals canceled the next hearing in the election interference case against Trump and his allies. The hearing was scheduled for Dec. 5. The court did not offer any explanation for the cancellation.

State of the States

In Pennsylvania, as the race for U.S. Senate was being re-counted, incumbent Sen. Bob Casey Jr. conceded to Dave McCormick. Afterwards, the Pennsylvania Department of State told county election officials that they could end their recounts.

Earlier in the week, the state Supreme Court ordered county election officials not to count undated or incorrectly dated mail-in ballots in the recount. The order came after officials in a few counties had moved to count some of those ballots—fewer than 2,000 total—in the recount. The issue of whether those ballots should be counted in future elections is still pending before the Supreme Court.

“The court has now ruled on the counting of these ballots specific to the November 5, 2024 election and I expect all county election officials to adhere to this ruling and all the applicable laws governing our elections.” Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement. “The rule of law matters in this Commonwealth, and as I have always said, it is critical for counties and officials in both parties to respect it with both their rhetoric and their actions.”

In Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments about whether Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe is legally entitled to keep her job until she is re-confirmed or until the state Senate appoints someone else.

Members of the state Senate voted last year to remove Wolfe, who was confirmed unanimously by the Senate in 2019. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul sued to challenge the vote, and the senators later admitted in a court filing that their vote was “symbolic” and had no legal effect. A judge ruled in Kaul’s favor in January, saying that Wolfe was legally holding her position as a “holdover.”

The effort to remove Wolfe stems from lies and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, some of which falsely allege that she manipulated the election in President Biden’s favor. Those lies have led to threats against Wolfe.

At Monday’s hearing, the justices pointed to a 2022 ruling from their own court that found that a state board appointee could legally hold his position past his term, since the Senate hadn’t re-confirmed him or confirmed his replacement.

“This is a case of careful what you wish for, isn’t it?” Justice Jill Karofsky said. “And now the Legislature is here two years later, demanding that Meagan Wolfe must vacate her position. It seems to me, this has little to do with what the law actually says, and far more to do with who is in these positions. If the Legislature favors someone, they stay. If they don’t, they must go. Does that sound like the rule of law to you?”

The States United newsletter will be on hiatus next week. It will return Friday, Dec. 6.