• CatAssTrophy@safest.space
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    3 days ago

    There is no constitutional basis for moving the date of elections under any circumstances. Elections went on as normal during the Civil War and WWII, there’s absolutely no legal, constitutional or moral excuse for cancelling or delaying them.

    • TempermentalAnomaly@lemmy.worldOP
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      3 days ago

      While everything you say is mostly* true, it really doesn’t matter. Martial law gives the executive wide and indeterminate decision making.

      WWII was not an insurrection so it was not grounds for martial law. The Civil War was seen as an international conflict initially and not an internal insurrection, but it becomes more complicated as it goes on. The 1807 Insurrection Act gives the president a lot of power. Trump has already postured that he can use it to deal with protests in Portland, OR.

      * I say mostly true because Congress is granted the ability to determine when elections will happen.

      • CatAssTrophy@safest.space
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        2 days ago

        Yeah, I should have said that there is no basis for the executive branch moving elections under any circumstances (including any precedent or statute for cancelling elections under the Insurrection Act).

        At some point that doesn’t matter, though. The constitution is just ink on parchment at the end of the day.