Patricia Marquard, Minot

Many of the events of the last couple of years have been swept under the rug. Most people look the other way. I still wonder if citizens are aware of what I learned in Government class many years ago.

I was taught that the state legislatures have a special job regarding Presidential elections as written in the U.S. Constitution. Article II. Section 1. states “Each state shall appoint in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct a Number of Electors equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress. The Electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by Ballot for two Persons. And they shall make a List pf all Persons voted for and of the Number of Votes for each which List they shall sign and certify and transit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate (Vice President) shall in the Presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives, open all the Certificates and the Votes shall then be counted.”

That is not what happened on Jan. 6, 2020. There were two sets of electors there. They were the electors selected by the state Legislators of Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, and the electors chosen by the Democratic governors and Secretaries of State from these states. Vice President Pence was supposed to certify the votes of the state legislators as written in the constitution. He turned away the legitimate electors from the legislatures and counted the votes of the electors chosen by the governors. I am assuming he did not have the courage necessary to carry on with what was right.

The electors representing the legislatures of the swing states risked their lives to go the Capital in Washington D.C. to have their votes counted. They had received death threats and risked injury to themselves and their families to be there. At the time I wondered if I was the only one to remember what I had learned in high school Government class, taught by Mr. Dave Charles in 1971. He always said, “Think people, think!” when he drilled the class with questions. Does anyone else remember what they learned in class? What about the social studies teachers?

The U.S. Constitution is not for only those states that choose to follow it. Very few politicians questioned what happened when the votes were certified, and we are supposed to trust them to lead us. When I am asked for political support, I only support the ones that stood up and questioned the certification.