FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6, 2021
CONTACT: Mark McCormick, Director of Strategic Communications, 913-490-4105, [email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6, 2021
CONTACT: Mark McCormick, (913) 490-4113, [email protected]
WASHINGTON — While a dozen senators, including Sen. Roger Marshall, have stated their plans to object when members of Congress meet to count and confirm the Electoral College votes, the American Civil Liberties Union urges Congress to oppose the efforts led by President Trump to trample the will of the American electorate, particularly the will of Kansas voters. The ACLU's position on this is consistent with its position after the 2000 election, when it did not support efforts to block Congress from counting Florida's Electoral College votes for George W. Bush, despite disagreement with the Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore.
Sen. Marshall and his Congressional colleagues, Ron Estes, Tracey Mann and Jake LaTurner will violate their constitutional oath to protect and defend the Constitution if they wrongly object to properly state-certified electoral votes. They will also inflict lasting damage to our republic and to our democratic norms of self-governance and undermine the will of Kansas voters. This effort is illegitimate and based on false allegations of voter fraud — a trope used throughout our country’s history to target the voting rights and political power of racial minorities, including Kansas’ Black and Brown voters, whom they are also duty bound to represent. Despite over 60 legal challenges that were filed to subvert the will of the people, the courts, federal and state, have been unanimous: Our legal system cannot be used to steal an election.
Kansans have voted — even amidst a pandemic and despite deliberate barriers to the polls. Now, it’s time for members of Congress to do their job and, in accordance with the Constitution, count the votes for president and vice president that have been certified by the states.
Voters — not the courts and not Congress — decide elections.
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About the ACLU of Kansas: The ACLU of Kansas is the statewide affiliate of the national American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU of Kansas is dedicated to preserving and advancing the civil rights and legal freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. For more information, visit our website at www.aclukansas.org.