A
week
ago,
Trump
explained
to
podcaster
Joe
Rogan
that
the
2020
election
was
stolen
because
courts
improperly
expanded
access
to
the
ballot.
“They
were
supposed
to
get
legislative
approval
to
do
the
things
they
did,
and
they
didn’t
get
it
in
many
cases,
They
didn’t
get
it,”
the
former
president
rambled.
“Like
for
extensions
of
the
voting,
for
voting
earlier.
All
these.
different
things,
By
law,
they
had
to
get
legislative
approvals.
You
don’t
have
to
go
any
further
than
that.”
Naturally,
Trump
didn’t
invoke
the
words
“independent
state
legislature
theory”
—
too
many
syllables,
and
he
likely
doesn’t
even
understand
what
it
is.
But
his
point
was
pretty
much
the
definition
of
the
ISL,
which
has
taken
hold
in
the
GOP
since
their
fraud
claims
fizzled
out.
They
insist
that
court
orders
and
actions
taken
by
election
officials
to
expand
access
to
the
ballot
violate
the
Constitution’s
Elections
Clause,
which
provides
that
“The
Times,
Places
and
Manner
of
holding
Elections
for
Senators
and
Representatives,
shall
be
prescribed
in
each
State
by
the
Legislature
thereof;
but
the
Congress
may
at
any
time
by
Law
make
or
alter
such
Regulations,
except
as
to
the
Places
of
chusing
Senators.”
ISL
has
its
roots
in
Bush
v.
Gore,
in
which
the
Rehnquist
Court
opined
that
each
state
legislature’s
authority
was
“plenary,”
and
it
could
even
cancel
elections
and
simply
award
electoral
votes
as
it
saw
fit.
A
few
Republican
politicians,
such
as
Maryland’s
Rep.
Andy
Harris,
are
now
openly
advocating
for
state
legislatures
to
do
just
that
this
cycle.
But
most
have
retreated
to
mumbling
like
House
Majority
Leader
Steve
Scalise
that
“There
were
a
few
states
that
did
not
follow
their
state
laws.
That’s
really
the
dispute
that
you’ve
seen
continue
on.”
And
yet
the
RNC
has
zero
problem
running
to
the
courts
to
get
them
to
change
the
rules
set
out
by
the
legislature
when
it’s
their
voters
(maybe!)
getting
the
short
end
of
the
stick.
The
issue
arose
in
Bucks
County,
where
there
were
long
lines
on
the
last
day
to
register
and
vote
absentee.
The
state
does
not
permit
in-person
early
voting,
but
it
does
allow
voters
to
fill
out
an
absentee
ballot
in
person
and
return
it
immediately.
That
process
requires
several
minutes
of
interface
with
election
clerks
for
every
ballot,
though,
and
takes
substantially
longer
than
simply
walking
in
and
voting
on
a
machine.
It
should
be
noted
that
this
logjam
was
virtually
guaranteed
by
Republican
state
legislators,
who
refuse
to
make
it
easier
to
cast
a
ballot
in
the
Commonwealth;
and
by
Republicans,
who
fearmonger
about
drop
boxes
so
aggressively
that
their
own
voters
are
terrified
to
use
them.
By
statute,
the
last
day
to
request
an
absentee
ballot
is
seven
days
before
the
election,
i.e.
Tuesday
October
29.
According
to
the
Philadelphia
Inquirer,
election
officials
in
Bucks
County
told
voters
who
were
in
line
by
2:30
on
Tuesday
that
they
could
fill
out
the
forms
and
cast
their
absentee
ballots
that
day.
Everyone
who
was
in
line
by
5
could
request
a
ballot
and
either
receive
it
by
mail
or
pick
it
up
later
in
the
week.
But
that
didn’t
stop
Republicans
from
claiming
that
the
long
lines
were
evidence
of
an
effort
to
suppress
the
votes
of
Trump
supporters.
Here’s
RNC
Chair
Michael
Whatley,
along
with
Val
Biancaniello,
a
PA
GOP
official
in
Delaware
County
who
got
herself
arrested
for
harassing
voters
in
line
to
cast
absentee
ballots
on
Monday.
https://x.com/ChairmanWhatley/status/1851393618365362352
In
2020,
President
Biden
took
63
percent
of
the
vote
in
Delaware
County,
and
52
percent
in
Bucks
County.
Nevertheless,
Whatley
tweeted
that
Biancaniello’s
arrest
“follows
reports
from
across
the
commonwealth
that
voters
are
being
turned
away
in
conservative
areas.”
The
RNC
and
the
Trump
campaign
characterized
attempts
to
manage
the
line
of
voters
as
“voter
suppression,”
and
they
filed
suit
in
the
Bucks
County
Court
of
Common
Pleas
alleging
that
officials
had
violated
the
law
by
not
allowing
everyone
in
line
by
5
to
cast
their
vote
on
site
that
day.
The
statute,
and
indeed
the
complaint
itself,
are
a
little
unclear
as
to
whether
voters
have
the
right
to
vote
absentee
in
person,
or
simply
to
request
the
ballot
by
the
deadline.
But
the
petitioners
got
their
wish,
with
Judge
Jeffrey
Trauger
granting
a
preliminary
injunction
ordering
election
officials
to
continue
to
process
and
accept
absentee
ballot
requests
through
November
1.
Because
sending
out
absentee
ballots
requests
to
all
voters,
accepting
ballots
in
the
park,
ballot
drop
boxes,
and
court-mandated
voting
modifications
during
a
pandemic
are
illegal.
But
having
a
court
order
two
more
days
of
early
voting
is
totally
kosher.
And
Trump
will
explain
that
fine
distinction
to
Joe
Rogan
when
he
runs
again
in
2028.
Liz
Dye lives
in
Baltimore
where
she
produces
the
Law
and
Chaos substack and podcast.