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Tag(s): Congress; Constitutional Issues; Election Law; Election-Voting Issues; People Harris Katherine
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October 13, 2006 at 06:15:05

The Next Katharine Harris?

by Ezekiel Page 1 of 1 page(s)

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Give Steny Hoyer some credit. The Democratic Whip in the House is looking past any October surprise to the post-election period when Republicans may employ a whole range of strategies to hold on to their House majority regardless of the voters' verdict on November 8.

Hoyer recently wrote a letter to Republican Vernon Ehlers, chairman of the usually obscure House Administration Committee, voicing concerns about the possiblity of contested House elections:

With many House races expected to be very close this November, there is the real possibility that recounts will occur in several congressional districts, with some outcomes being challenged under the Federal Contested Election Act (P.L. 91-138, 83 Stat. 284). I am deeply concerned that ambiguities and deficiencies in this statute may prolong rather than facilitate the resolution of contested elections by the Committee on House Administration unless the Committee acts now, in a non-partisan and collaborative manner, to develop a set of clear protocols for managing any contest or contests that the Committee faces in November.

At least one Democrat has learned the lesson of Bush v. Gore: losing an election doesn't stop this band of Republicans from trying to take the office anyway.

In this case, it's not the Oval Office but the Speaker of the House that will be the prize, and if Hoyer and the political pundits are right, whether the House is controlled by Republicans or Democrats after January 3 is likely to turn on a few House contests with close outcomes.

Here's how it works. Each state is responsible for certifying the Congressional winners to the U. S. House of Representatives. In many cases, the ultimate state authority will be a Secretary of State, the office that Katharine Harris held in Florida in 2000. Depending on a particular state's law, a Governor, state courts or a state legislature may have a role as well.

But that's where the similarity to the 2000 Presidential election nightmare ends. Article I of the U. S. Constitution provides that Congress itself--not the federal courts--will have ultimate authority to determine who is qualified to sit as a Representative. Dozens of House elections have been contested through the past two centuries, and in each case, it was the House itself that decided the outcome, sometimes reversing the decision of state authorities as happened in 1985 when Democrat Frank McCloskey was awarded the Indiana 8th Disrict seat over Republican Rick McIntyre who had been certified as the winner by Indiana.

The McCloskey/McIntyre contest prompted a dramatic Republican walkout, but that was nothing compared to the hullabaloo that will result from election contests that will actually determine the Speakership and committee chairmanships. The best precedent for such a situation arose when it came time to seat the 26th Congress in 1839. The House was closely divided between Democrats and Whigs, and the balance of power would be determined by the outcome of five contested New Jersey seats.

As is still the case, the House convened under the chairmanship of the Clerk of the previous House. Clerk Hugh Garland, a Whig, realized that if the five Democrats who had been certified as winners by one branch of the New Jersey state government were not allowed to vote, then a Whig would be elected Speaker. Claiming that he had no power to rule on the disputed seats, Garland passed over the New Jersey five during the roll call. The Democrats objected, and the House was paralyzed for two weeks until a compromise was reached that seated the New Jersey Democrats but elected a Whig as Speaker.

How will it work in November? Candidates determined to have lost according to state authorities can file a notice of contest with the current Clerk of the House. This initiates a process of response and discovery conducted under the superivison of the House Administration Committee which eventually makes a recommendation to the full House as to which candidate to seat.

Before things ever get to that point, however, the House must meet in January to elect a Speaker. Until the Speaker is chosen, it is the current Clerk of the House, Hastert protegee Karen Haas , who issues credentials (the electronic voting card), calls the roll and rules on who can vote for Speaker under 2 U. S. C. Section 26. Ms. Haas, currently being mentioned in connection with the page scandal because she is the designated supervisor of the pages, will find herself in the pivotal position of determining who can and cannot vote to elect a Speaker when a few votes either way could determine the outcome.

Such a scenario could make the 26th Congress and even the 2000 Presidential election seem orderly by comparison. Republicans can be expected to contest at least enough Democratic wins to keep the Speakership in doubt. Meanwhile, they will be pressuring, cajoling and bribing some of the thirty-plus conservative "blue dog" Democrats to switch sides.

The Republicans, like Democrat Hoyer, are anticipating that the situation will be very fluid after November 8 and are refusing to commit themselves even as to when they will hold their post-election organizational meeting in Washington.

If Democrats do manage to come out as "apparent" winners of 220 to 230 of the 218 seats needed to elect a Speaker, then the battle will have just begun.

And in the middle will be House Clerk Karen Haas, groomed by Denny Hastert for just such a moment.

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3 comments

An old hippie, awakening after a long, lazy slumber, only to discover, once again, that love, truth, and faith -- carried through into actions -- remain the only valid solutions to the fears and uncertainty facing us in these dark times in which we live.
Lilith's SpiritAn old hippie, awakening after a long, lazy slumber, only to discover, once again, that love, truth, and faith -- carried through into actions -- remain the only valid solutions to the fears and uncertainty facing us in these dark times in which we live.

Nice work

Thanks for your post Ezekiel. Every time I learn something new about how the government "works", it makes me realize I'm still pretty ignorant about the political processes of my own country. (I'm ashamed to admit it, but I am still somewhat in shock after learning that the electors are NOT BOUND in all states to cast their electoral votes according to their state's general presidential election results!) So I KNOW this one (about the Clerk of the House) would have really thrown me for a loop, if you hadn't explained how the process works.

I might be way off base, but given the fact that you've chosen to emigrate, I would imagine that the unspoken message here is that regardless of which of the two main parties ultimately ends up in control, they are basically both so complicit with one another, it's more the distraction of the drama, rather than the real hope of resolving the problems facing the average American, that's being played out in the upcoming election.

That might be just my cynicism being projected, and if so, I apologize. But it seems to me -- especially when it comes to the Bush-Clinton connection -- that the problems facing this country go way beyond pinning any hopes on some democratic "salvation". Our political system, the courts (including the "Supreme" court), the corporate media, many of our institutions of so-called higher learning, and the greedy, multinational interests have all bandied together to form a Medusa-like beast that has devoured this country lock, stock, and barrel. In the end, your choice to emigrate might very well turn out to be both prophetic and wise. All the best in your efforts; and thanks again for all the helpful info.

by Lilith's Spirit (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 99 comments) on Friday, October 13, 2006 at 12:28:26 PM

Charlie Levenson is a writer and activist in Portland, Oregon. In addition to serving as the Manager of Electronic Communications for a social/athletic club in Portland, he instructs in Digital Media at Portland State University, consults on communications strategy, and occasionally writes/directs videos.
Charlie LCharlie Levenson is a writer and activist in Portland, Oregon. In addition to serving as the Manager of Electronic Communications for a social/athletic club in Portland, he instructs in Digital Media at Portland State University, consults on communications strategy, and occasionally writes/directs videos.

Everything in line for another Republican coup

Anybody who doubts the willingness of the Rethuglicans to skip over the state election process and jump right to taking power need look no further than the California 50th Congressional District's recent race.

There they simply had one of their functionaries in the Secretary of State's office send a FAX to Dennis Hassert's office "certifying" the Rethuglican winner (while there were still votes to be counted and the election had not been certified) and Hassert arranged for a photo-op swearing in followed by an actual swearing-in. A Federal Judge then ruled that the courts had no say in changing the outcome because it was the House's role to decide their membership.

They are getting ready for more of the same, but will now add races they LOST to the mix.

These people (by which I mean the neo-con nutjob Rethuglicans) will stop at nothing to hold power. NOTHING. They will do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to keep power, not limited by law, morality, or even common sense.

by Charlie L (2 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 715 comments) on Friday, October 13, 2006 at 5:00:05 PM

Sadly, NWO view of Richard Moore quite sobering

Richard Moore's article entitled "China vs New World Order -- The Final War And The Dark Millennium", basically outlines a movement from "Nation/State" to "New World Order", pointing out that the current "First World" status of the United States will be ultimately, in his word, " downgraded" to "Third World" status. A basic characteristic of the transition is that major decisions -- ranging from food and drug certification to privacy laws -- are to be made IN PRIVATE, outside the checks and balances of any democratic process. In fact, some of these sorts of things are already happening.

Here's the link I used for the article. There are several articles on the page; the Moore article is about 1/2 way down the page.

click here

It would appear that it doesn't matter whether or not there's a republican or a democratic government in the U.S. any more; the decision to adopt this NWO seems to have already been accepted in backroom dealings indifferent to popular opinion. It's now merely a matter of when and how – not if – it's going to be imposed. Unfortunately, Ezekiel, it's so global in scope that it doesn't appear as if there's going to be ANY country that will be unaffected. This really goes beyond even 1984/Orwellian horror, at least for those raised in an atmosphere whereby independent thinking and the resultant expectations are prevalent.

by Lilith's Spirit (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 99 comments) on Friday, October 13, 2006 at 8:26:29 PM