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A question to Americans, is there nothing a common citizen can do about it? In India, in a similar situation anyone would be able to file a Public Interest Liti
by wobbly_bush 7y ago
A question to Americans, is there nothing a common citizen can do about it? In India, in a similar situation anyone would be able to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) with High Court (highest court at state level) or Supreme Court (highest court at central/federal level). If any of the courts decided to take up the PIL, they could ask any investigative body, including law enforcement or ex-judges, for investigation.
- ianai 7y agoAFAIK, the aggrieved party would be the losing candidate. That candidate is typically a D who announces defeat hours after the vote. They don’t fight these court battles long term in an interest of public unity. Or, worse, don’t have the finances for the court battle. See the vote election lawsuits following the ‘16 vote in the states which flipped that election. That was the 3rd party candidate Jill Stein suing and running out of money.
- jasonlotito 7y agoCouldn't it also be a voter? I know that if my vote wasn't counted, or an election I voted in was hacked, it would be like me losing my right to vote. It removes my right to vote and have that vote count.
- ianai 7y agoShould be, but for some reason that escapes me, I remember that not being the case.
- ancarda 7y agoTry to make electronic voting illegal? Not sure how though - call your representative, raise awareness, that sort of thing
- stanferder 7y agoThat's a good question, and I'm ashamed to say I don't know whether it's possible or not. "Grassroots organizing", or bottom-up pressure on the government, is a thing in the US, but I don't know the mechanisms by which it acts, beyond getting people to sign petitions once in a while. I suspect most other people in the US don't know the mechanisms either.
- btilly 7y agoThe answer is probably not. I am aware of have been a number of attempts at lawsuits against such state rules over a period of decades, and they have generally not gone very far. You can hold out hope that there will some day be a ruling that changes this. But I am dubious. To quote my brother on the USA vs China, "China is a nation of crooks ruled by honest men, while the USA is a nation of honest men ruled by crooks. It remains to be seen which is worse." This is one of the examples that I would cite for the US version of that.