Missouri, Kansas AGs join stunt to throw away presidential votes — and wreck democracy
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s misguided arrogance and dubious legal skills are once again on full display.
Not content with filing meaningless lawsuits against China, or canceling insurance for thousands of Missourians with health conditions, Schmitt now wants the U.S. Supreme Court to wipe out the presidential votes of more than 20 million Americans.
In a tweet Tuesday, Schmitt said he would back a Texas lawsuit that seeks to overturn the presidential election results in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin. “Missouri is in the fight,” he said.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the desperate motion for consideration this week. On Wednesday, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt joined the lawsuit, adding his name to the list of party officials determined to wreck our democracy.
Paxton’s motion is a laughable mess, wrong on the facts, the law and the potential remedy.
Officials in both parties in the relevant states are justifiably outraged at Paxton and Schmitt’s stunt. Judges across the nation — who, unlike Eric Schmitt, actually understand the law — have tossed out similar lawsuits for lack of evidence, lack of standing, lack of common sense.
But the damage Schmitt and Schmidt have caused goes far beyond supporting a frivolous lawsuit. Their actions are a clear threat to state autonomy and federalism, which Republicans usually say they support.
The lawsuit claims Texans (and, by extension, Missourians and Kansans) are harmed when other states improperly choose electors for president. In a brief filed by Wednesday, Schmitt says states which violate the Constitution “dilute” the votes in other states.
It’s true that actions in some states affect other states. But that happens all the time.
Different states make different choices, particularly with election procedures. Missouri has approved the use of Dominion voting systems, which President Donald Trump and others have falsely accused of corruption.
Will New York sue Missouri for that? For its voter ID law? For its lack of no-excuse early voting?
Missouri changed its ballot laws this year, another point of contention in several goofy lawsuits. Missouri treats mail-in ballots differently than absentee ballots. Missouri’s voter registration rolls are not clean.
Schmitt’s decision to join the Texas lawsuit provides a ready excuse for other states to sue Missouri for all of these election choices. And they’d be right to do so: Georgians and Pennsylvanians cannot stand by while Eric Schmitt tries to throw their votes into the garbage.
The presidential election is over. All 50 states and the District of Columbia have certified the results. Joe Biden won. He will be inaugurated on January 20.
Schmitt and Schmidt must drop their obsession with appearing on Fox News and focus on the states that pay their salaries. Just this week, a Missouri judge said Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft unconstitutionally stalled a citizen’s petition related to abortion rights in the state.
Where was Schmitt while Ashcroft was breaking the law? Probably putting on his TV makeup.
This isn’t a mere policy disagreement. Using taxpayer money, Schmitt and Schmidt are now pursuing a worthless case, and threatening democracy for their own political reasons and personal aggrandizement. It’s enough to make Kris Kobach blush.
Their actions are also misguided and dangerous. While the U.S. Supreme Court no doubt will reject the Texas case, it’s concerning to have state attorneys general so willing to discard facts, logic and the law in pursuit of their own ends. It needs to stop.