This is an adapted excerpt from the Oct. 27 episode of “The Beat with Ari Melber.”
Last week, the Justice Department announced it would deploy election monitors to polling sites in two Democratic-led states, California and New Jersey, ahead of the Nov. 4 elections. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the move would “ensure the American people get the fair, free, and transparent elections they deserve.”
Earlier this month, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, whose state has become one of President Donald Trump’s prime targets, warned that the president would take this move and cautioned that he could use it to interfere. “I think it’s not very far away from him offering and providing the military to protect the polling places across America, but particularly in blue states and blue cities, with the idea that they could confiscate the ballot boxes if they think there is fraud in the election,” he told Politico.
Now, the federal government has the power to send out election monitors, but it does not have the power to confiscate ballot boxes in state-run elections simply because it may not like the results. However, we have seen this administration repeatedly do things it does not have the power to do.
A federal court found that Trump violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which bars the military from assisting in civilian law enforcement unless authorized by Congress, when he sent National Guard troops into Los Angeles. Despite that, the president still pushed ahead and deployed troops to other Democratic-run cities.
Time and time again, the president has abused his power, taking authority he does not have and acting as if it were legitimate. So, Pritzker’s fears are clearly not unfounded.
Now, of course, state attorneys general can fight these actions. They can go to court and say, “This is an administration that’s violating the Constitution and the law.” But the real problem here is the Republican politicians who allow Trump to act with impunity. Oddly, the folks who are supposed to be all about states’ rights are silent when it’s the leader of their party who is clearly violating those rights all the time.
So really it comes down to this: Trump will continue to challenge the bounds of his authority when it comes to states’ rights, and it is up to those states to take the administration to court over those actions. But also, we — as the American people who say that we care about the Constitution and the balance of power in this country — all must join together and tell the administration “No.”
Trump doesn’t get to come and take people’s votes away simply because he may decide those votes shouldn’t be counted.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
