Critical that public maintains confidence in voting process

At least once every eight years, the world witnesses a miracle – or something like it — as the most powerful person in the world voluntarily relinquishes that power. No military coup, banishment, or untimely death is required. Instead, the peaceful transfer of power stems from a 4,000-word document that a handful of men drafted 229 years ago.

To this day, the U.S. Constitution remains a unifying document to which all lay claim.

From my view as a constitutional law professor, the first three words of the Constitution best capture its spirit: “We the People….”

The Constitution, of course, has been challenged many times, including challenges affecting free speech, free exercise of religion, and the scope of power attending the three branches of government. But a new and far more fundamental challenge is in the making. This new challenge is markedly different because it targets the very core of the Constitution.

The right to vote is the beating heart of the people’s power. Without a fair voting process that renders accurate results, elected officials and basic governing institutions lack credibility. Without a fair vote, the Constitution’s animating force, the people, are silenced. It is therefore critical that the public maintains confidence in the voting process.

But the presidential vote of 2016 deeply shook the public’s faith in the voting process. The U.S. intelligence community widely confirmed Russian interference. The New York Times described it as “the most effective foreign interference in an American election in history.” Although experts (including the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee) agree that Russians meddled in the election, the president has discounted the interference as a “hoax.”

Although Hillary Clinton received nearly 3 million more votes, President Trump characterized his victory as a landslide, and he tried doing so by undermining the vote itself. The President tweeted: “In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.” After extensive investigation, Republican officials in key states found no proof of fraudulent voting, but by then the harm to the integrity of the voting process was done.

As the 2020 election nears, the White House has shown little interest in combating Russian interference, even though intelligence agencies are certain it will happen again. The White House has demonstrated even less appetite for restoring voter confidence in the democratic process. Indeed, if history is a teacher, President Trump will again seek to undermine confidence in the vote.

Three weeks before Election Day in 2016, Trump insisted that the race was being deliberately stacked against him. “Remember, we are competing in a rigged election,” Trump said at a Wisconsin rally. “They even want to try and rig the election at the polling booths, where so many cities are corrupt and voter fraud is all too common.”

Undermining the vote in 2016 foreshadows President Trump’s approach to the vote in 2020. What if President Trump loses? Would he honor “We the People” and concede power as required by the Constitution or will he claim the vote was rigged?

Many believe that Donald Trump has no intention of leaving office even if he loses the 2020 presidential election. If so, for the first time in 229 years, it will be a tragedy the world witnesses after Election Day, not a miracle.