The 1960 Kennedy/Nixon election recap because I just had to explain this was the strategy used for J6 that the House Democrats have been trying to criminalize.

It's from the House record of the Bush v Gore.

 

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRECB-2000-pt18/html/CRECB-2000-pt18-Pg26609-2.htm

 

So that Members have the benefit of the full story of the 1960

contested Presidential election in Hawaii, I want to present its story

and lessons.

The Florida Presidential dispute contains all the elements present in

the 1960 Hawaii Presidential election: an apparent winner on election

night; a contest by the apparent loser; a

court-ordered recount; the certification of one set of electors by the

Governor while the recount was under way; a court decision declaring

the apparent loser the winner after a recount completed after the date

the State's electors met; competing slates of electors presented to the

Congress; and a joint session of Congress choosing which slate of

electors to accept.

The resolution of that dispute provides valuable guidance for the

Congress and the Nation as we try to determine the next President of

the United States.

The results of the 1960 Presidential election in Hawaii between

Richard Nixon and John Kennedy originally showed Nixon a winner by 141

votes. Based on those results, the Republican slate was issued a

certificate of election by the Acting Governor on November 28, 1960.

The results were challenged by 30 Democratic voters who filed suit to

require a recount in 34 of the State's 240 precincts. The suit was

opposed by the State's Republican Administration, which contended that

there was not sufficient time to complete the recount before the

December 13, 1960 deadline for certifying electors, six days before the

December 19, 1960 date set for the electors to meet.

The Republicans also argued that if some of the votes were to be

recounted, all the votes should be recounted.

The recount began on December 13, 1960. By the time the electors met

on December 19, 1960, only one-third of the votes had been recounted,

but Kennedy had an 83 vote lead. Based on the earlier certified

results, the Republican electors met and cast their three votes for

Nixon. The Democratic electors also met and cast their votes for

Kennedy even though they did not have a certificate of election from

the State.

The recount was not concluded until December 28, 1960. Kennedy was

declared the winner by the court by 115 votes. The court entered its

judgment on December 30, 1960.

When Congress met to count the electoral votes on January 6, 1961, it

had before it three certificates from Hawaii. The first was the

certificate of the Republican electors dated December 19 accompanied by

the November 28 certificate of the Acting Governor of Hawaii that the

electors had been appointed as a result of the November election.

The second was the certificate of the Democratic electors dated

December 19, 1960 casting their votes for John Kennedy.

The third certificate was from the Republican Governor of Hawaii

dated January 4, 1961 certifying that the Democratic electors had been

elected ``agreeably to the provision of the laws of the said State, and

in conformity with the Constitution and the laws of the United States''

as ``ascertained by judgment of the Circuit Court.'' The Governor

annexed a copy of the court's decision to the certificate of election.

Vice President Nixon, sitting as the presiding officer of the joint

convention of the two Houses, suggested that the electors named in the

certificate of the Governor dated January 4, 1961 be considered the

lawful electors from Hawaii. There was no objection to the Vice

President's suggestion, and the three electoral votes from Hawaii were

cast for John Kennedy.

This result was supported by both Senators from Hawaii, Republican

Hiram Fong and Democrat Oren Long and Democratic Representative Daniel

K. Inouye.

The precedent of 40 years ago suggests the means for resolving the

electoral dispute in Florida: count the votes under the supervision of

the court pursuant to Florida law, both slates of electors meet on

December 18 and send their certificates to Congress; the Governor of

Florida send a subsequent certificate of election based on the decision

of the count supervised by the court accompanied by the decision of the

court; and Congress accepts the slate of electors named by the Governor

in his final certification.