Source: US Rep. David Rouzer (NC-7th), 11/11/20

Dear Friend,
First, I want to take the opportunity this Veterans Day to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served our nation in our armed forces.  It’s because of your service and your sacrifice that we enjoy the freedoms that we all hold dear.  We will forever be in your debt for your service to our nation.

I also want to share with you the latest on ensuring the integrity of our elections.  Presently, the Trump campaign has legal challenges underway in a number of states as we work to ensure that every legal ballot is counted and every illegal ballot is discarded.  As I have said multiple times in interviews and on social media posts, the media does not decide the outcome of our elections; the outcome will only be decided once the legal challenges underway have run their course and the electors have casts their votes.  

There is a reason why our Founding Fathers included a backstop for every possible electoral situation.  Contested elections are not new.  It’s why electors do not meet until Dec 14th and the swearing-in of a new President does not occur until January 20, 2021.    

Speaking of which, in 1824 John Quincy Adams was elected President by a vote of the House of Representatives.  Andrew Jackson won the popular vote that election, but he did not have a majority of the Electoral College.   Under the Constitution, when that is the case, the vote goes to the U.S. House of Representatives.  It is also specifically prescribed by the Constitution that each state gets one vote; it is not a vote of each individual member of the House.  Every time I read the Constitution, I continue to marvel at how thoughtful and anticipatory of every possible scenario they were.       

Here is the latest on the ongoing legal challenges in some of the most closely-contested states in the country:

Pennsylvania:
• To compel Philadelphia election officials to stop counting ballots. 
o A federal judge dismissed this request.

• To compel state election officials to allow Trump campaign officials closer observation of the counting process. 
o A state judge ruled in favor of the campaign.

• To compel Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar and all 67 counties to impose an earlier date for voters to show proof of identification if it was not on their initial ballots. 
o This litigation is ongoing.

• To compel the Montgomery County Board of Elections to stop counting mail-in-ballots. 
o This litigation is ongoing.

• To intervene in an already existing dispute before the U.S. Supreme Court about whether ballots the state received after 8 p.m. on Election Day should count. 
o This litigation is ongoing.

Nevada:
• To impose an injunction on the automated signature-verification machines used in Clark County as ballots continue to be counted. 
o A federal judge rejected this request.

• To compel state election officials to allow the public closer observation at a Clark County ballot-counting facility. 
o A district judge rejected this lawsuit.

Michigan:
• To halt the counting of absentee ballots, on the grounds that campaign officials had not been given access to observe the process as required by state law. 
o A Michigan Court of Claims judge denied this request.

• To halt the certification of election results in Detroit. 
o A Wayne County Circuit Court judge denied this motion.

• To stop certification of the state's election results until defendants have verified and confirmed ballots were cast and tabulated in accord with the law and to ensure no unlawful ballots were cast. 
• This litigation is ongoing. 

Georgia:
• To disqualify late-arriving ballots in Chatham County. 
o A Superior Court Judge in Chatham County rejected the suit.

Arizona:
• To allow for ballots that were improperly rejected in Maricopa County to be counted. 
o This litigation is ongoing.

I also want to share some comments made by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell earlier this week that I feel explains where we are and where we go from here:

“So let’s talk about where we are now. According to preliminary results, voters across the nation elected and re-elected Republican Senators to a degree that stunned prognosticators. Likewise, the American people seem to have reacted to House Democrats’ radicalism and obstruction by shrinking the Speaker’s majority and electing more Republicans there.

“And then there is the presidential race.  Obviously, no states have yet certified their election results. We have at least one or two states that are already on track for a recount. And I believe the President may have legal challenges underway in at least five states. The core principle here is not complicated. In the United States of America, all legal ballots must be counted; any illegal ballots must not be; the process should be transparent or observable by all sides, and the courts are here to work through concerns.

“Our institutions are built for this. We have the system in place to consider concerns. And President Trump is 100% within his rights to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options. Twenty years ago, when Florida came down to a very thin margin, we saw Vice President Gore exhaust the legal system and wait to concede until December. More recently, weeks after the media had “called” President Bush’s re-election in 2004, Democrats baselessly disputed Ohio’s electors and delayed the process in Congress. The 2016 election saw recounts or legal challenges in several states.

"If any major irregularities occurred this time, of a magnitude that would affect the outcome, then every single American should want them to be brought to light. And if Democrats feel confident they have not occurred, they should have no reason to fear any extra scrutiny. We have the tools and institutions we need to address any concerns. The President has every right to look into allegations and request recounts under law. And notably the Constitution gives no role in this process to wealthy media corporations. The projections and commentary of the press do not get veto power over the legal rights of any citizen, including the President.

"More broadly, let’s have no lectures about how the President should immediately, cheerfully accept preliminary election results from the same characters who just spent four years refusing to accept the validity of the last election. And who insinuated this one would be illegitimate, too, if they lost again. Let’s have no lectures on this subject from that contingent. In late August, Secretary Hillary Clinton said, quote, 'Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances… I think this is going to drag out, and… he will win if we don’t give an inch.’ That same month, Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic Leader both stated, quote, '[President Trump] needs to cheat to win.’ In October, when Speaker Pelosi was shopping some conspiracy theory about the Postal Service, she recklessly said, quote, 'I have no doubt that the president… will lie, cheat, and steal, to win this election.’

“This process will reach its resolution. Our system will resolve any recounts or litigation. In January, the winner of this election will place his hand on a Bible. Just like it’s happened every four years since 1793. What we know for sure is that the outcome is guaranteed to delight tens of millions of Americans and disappoint tens of millions of Americans. But we also know that we will wake up on January 21st, still blessed to live in the greatest nation the world has ever seen. And in no small part that is because we respect the rule of law, we trust our institutions, and neither of those things is outweighed by pronouncements from partisans or the press.”

As I have said publicly, the President has a right to look into and call for an investigation of possible irregularities and fraud and to pursue his legal options.  Lady Justice wears a blindfold for a reason.  This process will ultimately result in a resolution that the nation can trust.   

Sincerely,
David Rouzer