Time of Determination of Electors 6 days before the meeting of the Elector

http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/provisions.html

Title 3 Chapter 1 Section 5

Determination of controversy as to appointment of electors

§ 5. If any State shall have provided, by laws enacted prior to the day fixed for the appointment of the electors, for its final determination of any controversy or contest concerning the appointment of all or any of the electors of such State, by judicial or other methods or procedures, and such determination shall have been made at least six days before the time fixed for the meeting of the electors, such determination made pursuant to such law so existing on said day, and made at least six days prior to said time of meeting of the electors, shall be conclusive, and shall govern in the counting of the electoral votes as provided in the Constitution, and as hereinafter regulated, so far as the ascertainment of the electors appointed by such State is concerned.


Then there is section 15 which lays out the process of challange in the congress. A REPUBLICAN CONGRESS at least part of which was fraudlently elected as well.

The only thing that could be done at that point would be to go to the Supream Court and (and hope against Hope that O Conner is more worried about the Republic than whatever she was thinking about last time) and argue that the law as presently written does not give time for a recount in case of fraud and have the time table moved back.

the dispute or recount must be accomplished within 6 days?

To flip Ohio's Electors over to Kerry

Otherwise it will have to be argued in the Supream Court that the deadlines as they stand in Ohio and in Federal Law defeat any meaningful remedy to election fraud or irregularity. And you can BET if the shoe was on the other foot they would already be before the Supreams NOW.

Also, I thought that Jonathon Turley (Constitutional Scholar) who appeared on Olbermann last week said that the 'drop dead' date was actually January 6th -- the date on which the US Congress and Senate officially recognize the votes of the electors. Provided a recount occurs (which is unlikely) or a smoking cannon is found (we need something bigger than a gun) - then the votes of the electors may not be accepted by the Joint Session on January 6th. :think:

If the wrong electors are chosen they can be challanged under Section 15. But then Congress decides who becomes President.

It gets HARDER the more time passes.

As was said above a republican congress will probably accept the first slate even if Kerry is shown to win Ohio by recount, citing the 3 million + popular vote lead. The only thing that might change that would be if Kerry was shown to have won Ohio by a fairly large margin i.e. at least as much as Bush is leading by now which would provide somewhat more concrete proof of error/fraud, additionally of course really concrete evidence of fraud would also work, either way if the Ohio recount does show different results there will probably be an almighty row which should undercut Bush's legitimacy if nothing else.

Counting electoral votes in congress

§ 15. Congress shall be in session on the sixth day of January succeeding every meeting of the electors.

The Senate and House of Representatives shall meet in the Hall of the House of Representatives at the hour of 1 o'clock in the afternoon on that day, and the President of the Senate shall be their presiding officer.

Two tellers shall be previously appointed on the part of the Senate and two on the part of the House of Representatives, to whom shall be handed, as they are opened by the President of the Senate, all the certificates and papers purporting to be certificates of the electoral votes, which certificates and papers shall be opened, presented, and acted upon in the alphabetical order of the States, beginning with the letter A; and said tellers, having then read the same in the presence and hearing of the two Houses, shall make a list of the votes as they shall appear from the said certificates; and the votes having been ascertained and counted according to the rules in this subchapter provided, the result of the same shall be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall thereupon announce the state of the vote, which announcement shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons, if any, elected President and Vice President of the United States, and, together with a list of the votes, be entered on the Journals of the two Houses.

Upon such reading of any such certificate or paper, the President of the Senate shall call for objections, if any. Every objection shall be made in writing, and shall state clearly and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof, and shall be signed by at least one Senator and one Member of the House of Representatives before the same shall be received.

When all objections so made to any vote or paper from a State shall have been received and read, the Senate shall thereupon withdraw, and such objections shall be submitted to the Senate for its decision;

and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, in like manner, submit such objections to the House of Representatives for its decision;

and no electoral vote or votes from any State which shall have been regularly given by electors whose appointment has been lawfully certified to according to section 6 of this title from which but one return has been received shall be rejected,

but the two Houses concurrently may reject the vote or votes when they agree that such vote or votes have not been so regularly given by electors whose appointment has been so certified.

If more than one return or paper purporting to be a return from a State shall have been received by the President of the Senate, those votes, and those only, shall be counted which shall have been regularly given by the electors who are shown by the determination mentioned in section 5 of this title to have been appointed, if the determination in said section provided for shall have been made, or by such successors or substitutes, in case of a vacancy in the board of electors so ascertained, as have been appointed to fill such vacancy in the mode provided by the laws of the State; but in case there shall arise the question which of two or more of such State authorities determining what electors have been appointed, as mentioned in section 5 of this title, is the lawful tribunal of such State, the votes regularly given of those electors, and those only, of such State shall be counted whose title as electors the two Houses, acting separately, shall concurrently decide is supported by the decision of such State so authorized by its law;


and in such case of more than one return or paper purporting to be a return from a State, if there shall have been no such determination of the question in the State aforesaid, then those votes, and those only, shall be counted which the two Houses shall concurrently decide were cast by lawful electors appointed in accordance with the laws of the State, unless the two Houses, acting separately, shall concurrently decide such votes not to be the lawful votes of the legally appointed electors of such State. But if the two Houses shall disagree in respect of the counting of such votes, then, and in that case, the votes of the electors whose appointment shall have been certified by the executive of the State, under the seal thereof, shall be counted. When the two Houses have voted, they shall immediately again meet, and the presiding officer shall then announce the decision of the questions submitted. No votes or papers from any other State shall be acted upon until the objections previously made to the votes or papers from any State shall have been finally disposed of.

now.