Posted on 12/07/2020 6:32:44 AM PST by Jan_Sobieski
UNITED STATES SENATE Charles E Grassley Washington D.C.
December 7, 2020
Dear Mr. ########:
Thank you for taking the time to contact me with your concerns regarding the 2020 election. As your senator, it is important to me that I hear from you.
I appreciate hearing your concerns regarding the 2020 election. Throughout the election season and following Election Day on November 3, 2020, I have heard from many Iowans concerned about the electoral process. I appreciate being made aware of your views as well. As the election season comes to conclusion and the results are certified, I would like to take this opportunity to address the common concerns I have heard from Iowans regarding this year’s election.
At the outset, I would like to make clear that the primary responsibility for organizing and administrating elections in the United States rests with state governments. That said, in response to concerns about election security and the increased reliance on absentee ballots due to COVID-19, Congress greatly increased funding to states for the administration of elections. I was supportive of efforts to ensure states had the resources they needed to administer elections and to ensure that state election infrastructure was secure from any intrusions by foreign actors like Russia or China. The Department of Homeland Security’s initial evaluation of the 2020 election has concluded that it was safe and secure from any interference.
In Iowa, our state’s chief election officer Secretary of State Paul Pate, in coordination with the Iowa legislature and county auditors, implemented a number of reforms to ensure that every Iowan who wanted to cast a vote could do so safely. This year, every active registered voter in our state received a prepaid absentee ballot request form, which if filled out with the voter’s id number and turned in, was verified and processed by their county auditor. Those Iowans who chose to request an absentee ballot received one with postage prepaid and with a trackable individual identifier envelope from the United States Postal Service. So long as the absentee ballot was mailed before Election Day, it was counted. County auditors were authorized to begin processing the absentee ballots a day before Election Day to prevent extensive delays in the initial count. I am confident that Iowa’s election results accurately reflect the choice Iowa voters and I am very thankful to all those who worked so diligently to ensure our state’s election was a success.
It was widely anticipated by election officials across the United States that due to the increased reliance on absentee ballots and new processes in place in several states that the presidential election results would not be known at the close of Election Day. Each state has a different process for processing and reporting absentee ballots so it took time to get the results. By Friday November 7, 2020, most media organizations projected that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris would become President-elect and Vice-president elect when the Electoral College meets.
Following these unofficial projections by media outlets, President Trump’s campaign announced that it would seek recounts and pursue legal challenges in several states. Given last minute administrative and judicial changes to election law that created legal discrepancies in states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Arizona, the Trump campaign was entitled to seek redress. In the weeks following the election, most of the Trump campaign’s legal challenges have not been successful. The recounts requested by the Trump campaign have since been conducted and have changed vote totals in some cases but have not reversed a state’s initially reported outcome.
Federal law sets forth the process by which the President-elect of the United States is selected by the Electoral College. Following the general election, states are required to produce “Certificates of Ascertainment” to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). These certificates are the official results of the elections held in the state that determine the number of electors apportioned for each candidate. States are required to make final determinations of any controversies or contests as to the appointment of electors at least six days before the December 14 meeting of electors for their electoral votes to be presumptively valid when presented to Congress. Determinations by states’ lawful tribunals are conclusive, if decided under laws enacted prior to Election Day. On December 14, 2020, the electors appointed by their respective states will select the President-elect and Vice President-elect of the United States. Following this selection, the new Congress is assembled and on or before January 3, 2021, the results of the Electoral College are submitted to the House of Representatives and the Senate. On January 6, 2021, Congress meets in joint session to count the electoral votes and certify the result. On January 20, 2021 at Noon the President-elect and the Vice President-elect take the Oath of Office and assume the duties and responsibilities of the offices to which they have been elected.
There has been considerable debate about President Trump’s decision not to concede the election. The concept of conceding an election has no relationship to the nature by which the Electoral College will select the next president. In fact, it is not unprecedented for candidates to refuse to concede. In 2000, then Vice President Al Gore did not concede that he had lost the election until December 13, 2000 after filing many legal motions to try to force additional recounts in hopes of changing the result. Even after doing so, he has alluded to the possibility he was improperly denied the presidency. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, despite conceding in 2016, has since made comments suggesting perhaps that the election of President Trump in 2016 was illegitimate. She even went so far as to counsel Vice President Biden to not concede the election, “under any circumstances” and many commentators prior to the election admonished Americans not to consider either candidate the winner before vote totals were finalized. Members of Congress have no role in projecting who the Electoral College will select as President-elect and Vice president-elect. I have certainly never reached out to any presidential candidate directly to offer my congratulations after an election.
On November 23, 2020, the Administrator of the General Services Administration, Emily Murphy, signed the official determination under the Presidential Transition Act to designate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the apparent winners of the presidential election. This designation authorizes the release of roughly $3.8 million in transition funding and grants Biden access to classified intelligence briefings. According to the GSA, the decision to not sign the authorization until resolution of legal election disputes was consistent with historical practice.
Unfortunately, throughout this election cycle there was a proliferation of conspiracies suggesting the election was not free and fair. Partisan media outlets on either side have gone so far as to suggest that the United States Postal Service was intentionally compromised to disenfranchise individuals or that there was a coordinated clandestine operation to fake votes or tamper with election infrastructure. There have been accusations of widespread voter suppression and widespread voter fraud. These are serious crimes and each individual allegation much be treated seriously and investigated, but I would encourage all Americans to be wary of narratives that undermine faith in our elections.
I understand that many voters are very passionate about their preferred candidates. I too am certainly passionate about my beliefs regarding how this country ought to be governed. Whatever our differences of opinion, respect for the rule of law transcends any partisan disagreements. As we move towards finalizing the results of the 2020 election, I believe it is important for all Americans to respect the electoral process and to honor its results. Regardless of the outcome, there are foreign adversaries who want nothing more than to watch the United States be consumed in partisan rancor and to question the legitimacy of our governmental system and its leaders. As a senator, I have always committed myself to working for the best interest of Iowa and the United States as a whole. I have found common ground with every president I have served with and I have opposed policies promoted by every president when they were not in the best interests of Iowans and all Americans. You can rest assured that I will continue to do so during the 117th Congress.
Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. Please keep in touch.
Sincerely,
Chuck Grassley
United States Senate
Senator Grassley calls the countless cases of eyewitnessed election fraud around the country, "conspiracies" and "partisan rancor". Really Senator Grassley? What exactly is the purpose of election monitors? Do whistleblowers and eyewitnesses to election fraud have no voice? No recourse? You talk about our foreign adversaries who want to "watch the United States consumed". If foreign adversaries own our Election Voting Systems, I would say they are doing a pretty good job of sowing distrust, fraud, and chaos! Perhaps you should investigate these allegations? However this might interrupt your busy Washington DC meeting schedule.
Senator, you talk about investingations and the rule of law. What are you doing to investigate and ensure the rule of law while the clock runs out on the fraudulent 2020 election?
He can’t see anything because he’s part of the swamp. 40 years? Really?
This why we need term limits.
The old corrupt bastard has been in the Senate too long.
Eggs Ackley
So be it SWAMP CREATURE. Dude looks like one too.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=chuck+grassley&t=osx&iax=images&ia=images
He does not want to see. It’s every category of fraud.
Ray Smith, an attorney in GA recapped a detail list of
Fraud Categories by the numbers. These are facts
based on REAL voter registration roles.
groundChuck crawled out and called out. MOAR WINNING
Not surprised. He gets his Soros money.
He’ll be gone in 2 years. You must step up. Who is the most conservative who can win? It was Grassley for the longest time.
My GOP Congresswoman talked about President Trump and her support for him in almost every one of her weekly constituent emails. Since election day she has not said one word about him. Neither of North Carolina’s Senators are speaking in support of President Trump. Even though Trump came to NC several times to campaign for Tillis.
The GOP establishment is showing its true colors. They are aligned with the Democrats on globalism, one-sided trade with China, perpetual wars, open borders, and big social programs. The overwhelming majority of GOP politicians have nothing but disdain for the voters they blatantly lie to every election season.
At least you got a reply. I’m still waiting to hear back from both Grassley and Ernst. I’m beginning to think the only way to clean up this whole mess, is to get rid of all of them. Senators, Congressman, FBI, CIA, NSA, HHS, IRS, etc, etc, etc.
More like he’s also been in office way way way too long. He can’t think in any other terms. He should have retired or have been replaced a decade ago.
The dirty secret is that the Bush League Republicans are as eager to get rid of Trump as the Democrats.
I think they’re all afraid of some type of revenge so they keep quiet and willfully blinded.
Pretty disgusting state of affairs.
The GOP establishment is showing its true colors. They are aligned with the Democrats on globalism, one-sided trade with China, perpetual wars, open borders, and big social programs. The overwhelming majority of GOP politicians have nothing but disdain for the voters they blatantly lie to every election season.
****************
agree but its not just the so-called GOPe. The rest of the party serves as enablers. Its really the entirety of the GOP that’s the problem. The party itself is weak and spineless.
Basically its a fake party. The sooner we find a way to make a break these retreaters and deceivers and form our own party the better.
Could it be that age takes it’s toll on cognition and that America is suffering from way too many government leaders near to or over 80, in positions where age-related problems can actually threaten our nation? I would support a law that no one over 78 can serve. Corporations have mandatory retirement ages because they have to make a profit. Government does not because it does not have to prove success for the people, like we are seeing right now, and it needs empty suits as support on all sides. We have reached a point where our society is so complex that graft and corruption are easily hidden, especially when intertwined with government and corporations, not to mention global involvement. Old guys and gals may just not be able to take all of that in.
No doubt, I'm hoping Trump has awoken the sleeping giant of patriots. I'm hopeful he remains the "leader" of the movement.
he was given 411 of USPTO corruption with applications
going to F countries ILLEGALLY,
and he and his fn committee did NOTHING.
he is PROVEN DS.
You got a standard form letter. Why are you surprised?
It’s chit like this that demoralizes the base! I’m at the point that I just don’t give a chit anymore. No matter how hard we fight we always lose always! The backstabbing by these assholes is just overwhelming. 74 million and we can’t do chit...infuriating those bastards don’t fear the base!! The shear numbers should scare the 💩 outta them but they seem to not give a rat’s ass!! I’m done! Was going to vote for our republican mayor in the runoff but after the way I saw how he distanced himself when president Trump at came to our city at the beginning of his presidency....he can bend over he ain’t any different to the rat candidate!
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