Tom still cottons to voter suppression

In part to distinguish himself from Josh Hawley in the “charisma-free dork who gets tons of positive media coverage and doesn’t survive Iowa in the 2024 primaries” sweepstakes, Tom Cotton will not be opposing the formal certification of Donald Trump’s victory. But note that his objection is not based on supporting democracy in principle, but that it 1)won’t work and 2)will discredit other Republican vote suppression efforts:

I share the concerns of many Arkansans about irregularities in the presidential election, especially in states that rushed through election-law changes to relax standards for voting-by-mail. I also share their disappointment with the election results. I therefore support a commission to study the last election and propose reforms to protect the integrity of our elections. And after Republicans win in Georgia, the Senate should also hold more hearings on these matters. All Americans deserve to have confidence in the elections that undergird our free government.

Nevertheless, the Founders entrusted our elections chiefly to the states—not Congress. They entrusted the election of our president to the people, acting through the Electoral College—not Congress. And they entrusted the adjudication of election disputes to the courts—not Congress. Under the Constitution and federal law, Congress’s power is limited to counting electoral votes submitted by the states.

If Congress purported to overturn the results of the Electoral College, it would not only exceed that power, but also establish unwise precedents. First, Congress would take away the power to choose the president from the people, which would essentially end presidential elections and place that power in the hands of whichever party controls Congress. Second, Congress would imperil the Electoral College, which gives small states like Arkansas a voice in presidential elections. Democrats could achieve their longstanding goal of eliminating the Electoral College in effect by refusing to count electoral votes in the future for a Republican president-elect. Third, Congress would take another big step toward federalizing election law, another longstanding Democratic priority that Republicans have consistently opposed.

Thus, I will not oppose the counting of certified electoral votes on January 6. I’m grateful for what the president accomplished over the past four years, which is why I campaigned vigorously for his reelection. But objecting to certified electoral votes won’t give him a second term—it will only embolden those Democrats who want to erode further our system of constitutional government.

“Our system of constitutional government” means vote suppression should be left to the states and the federal courts, and Congress should not use the powers explicitly granted to it by the Constitution to protect the franchise. That Cotton is behaving marginally better than the Hawley 12 doesn’t mean he’s a friend of democracy.