How to Steal a Presidential Election

Harvard law professor Lessig (The Future of Ideas) and Stanford legal scholar Seligman investigate in this labyrinthine study several pathways by which a “MAGA Republican” candidate might narrowly lose the electoral college vote, but triumph through legal chicanery. Included are several scenarios that hinge on the byzantine Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022, which governs how Congress counts electoral college votes from states. In one such scheme, a rogue Republican governor alleges nonexistent election fraud to certify a bogus slate of electors, and a Republican House majority votes to accept it. Other scenarios include faithless Democratic electors coerced by right-wing threats; the passage of state laws declaring the state legislature the judge of election results; and state legislatures simply canceling a presidential election and choosing the state’s electors themselves, a procedure that the authors worry could be interpreted as constitutional. Lessig and Seligman explain these strategies in intricate detail while keeping their arguments lucid and comprehensible for laypeople. They recommend legal tweaks to make subversion harder, but warn that no law can protect election integrity if politicians won’t defend it. Though the authors’ forecasts sometimes seem far-fetched, for the most part, this is a sobering look at how a coup might proceed through the courts. It’s worth checking out for legal observers and those involved with electoral law. (Feb.)