With Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his allies attempting to sow doubt over the 2024 election results if he loses, more than four dozen watchdogs and advocacy groups on Monday wrote to every member of Congress, demanding lawmakers' commitment to ensuring the peaceful transfer of power in January 2025.
Organized by the group Courage for America, which advocates against "an extremist agenda that puts money and power over the freedoms of our families and communities," the letter notes that there are less than 100 days until January 6, 2025, the day Congress is scheduled to certify the 2024 election results.
That date will also mark the fourth anniversary of the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol, with supporters of Trump descending on the building with the aim of stopping lawmakers from certifying the 2020 election results after the then-president told them to "take back our country" and demand that Congress "only count the electors" who he viewed as "lawfully slated."
On January 6, 2025, said the groups on Monday, "if Congress disregards its patriotic and constitutional duties to the American people, our most fundamental rights and freedoms will be jeopardized once again."
The signatories, including Public Citizen, People's Action, and Friends of the Earth, urged lawmakers to "denounce any attempt to intimidate, harass, threaten, or incite political violence; reject attempts to spread misinformation about the integrity of the United States' elections; and agree to accept the ultimate outcome of the election, promptly certify the result, and support the peaceful transfer of power."
The letter was sent days after U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters that he would support certifying the election results—"if we have a free, fair, and safe election."
Johnson's implied suggestion that the election won't be fair, four years after the top Republican promoted Trump's meritless claims that the 2020 election had been rigged, was called "disturbing" by journalist Chris Geidner.
Johnson has also led the charge against noncitizen voting, which he has admitted is already against federal law but has nevertheless introduced a bill to prevent.
U.S. Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), the top-ranking Democrat on the House Committee on House Administration, which oversees issues related to elections, responded to Johnson's remarks and proposed legislation in an op-ed at MSNBC, noting that his committee "has held numerous hearings that demonstrate state and local election officials are prepared for November's elections and protections against potential fraud and election tampering remain strong and highly effective."
"The lies being spread by Trump, Speaker Johnson, House Republicans and extreme right-wing conspiracy theorists about noncitizen voting have been repeatedly debunked. Yet they have persisted in a clear attempt to generate anxiety in the minds of voters, and to serve, come November, as the foundation for false claims of election fraud," wrote Morelle. "Congress' duty to uphold the will of the people is embedded in the Constitution and federal law... Congress must, in no uncertain terms, ensure January 6, 2025, will not be a repeat of January 6, 2021, as we certify the results of the Electoral College."
Trump has also suggested without evidence that fraudulent voting—instances of which were found just 31 times out of more than 1 billion votes cast between 2000-14 in one comprehensive study—will be rampant in the election, saying in one social media post recently, "If you vote illegally you're going to jail."
The last time members of Congress joined a Trump-led effort to stop the peaceful transfer of power, reads the letter sent Monday, "lives were lost and a violent mob took over the United States Capitol in an attempt to subvert the will of the American people."
"That must never happen again," the groups wrote. "Ensuring the peaceful certification of the next presidential election is a critical responsibility. You have the responsibility to uplift our democratic institutions in the face of rising political violence and threats. A failure to do so would not only be a dangerous dereliction of your oath of office but a stain on our democracy."