Georgia Alternate Electors Sought to Emulate 1960 JFK–Nixon Challenge, Transcript Shows

David Shafer, Georgia GOP chairman, speaks at the opening ceremony of the GOP’s Asian Pacific American Community Center in Berkeley Lake, Ga., on Sept. 17, 2021. Roland Ree/The Epoch Times

A transcript of the Dec. 14, 2020, meeting of the Georgia alternate electors shows that the group convened following the advice of President Donald Trump’s legal counsel, seeking to emulate a 1960 challenge to election results in Hawaii by then-Vice President Richard Nixon.

Alternate electors David Shafer, former chair of the Georgia Republican Party, and Cathy Latham were among the 19 indicted this month for challenging the 2020 election results in Georgia. Prosecutor Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, said that these actions constituted a “criminal racketeering enterprise” and conspiracy to defraud citizens of their vote.

The 98-page indictment names the electors, President Trump, the attorneys who advised the president and electors in 2020, and several others who spoke to election witnesses during the challenge of the vote. The 19 individuals were charged with violating the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, in addition to 40 other charges.

“We’re going to conduct this in accordance with the Constitution of the United States, so we’re going to conduct the electorate today similar to what happened in 1960 in Hawaii,” attorney Ray Smith said in the Dec. 14, 2020, meeting, according to transcripts obtained by The Federalist.

The charges against the alternate electors include allegedly impersonating public officers, arguing that they hadn’t legitimately held the contingent elector roles. Mr. Shafer argued, in his notice to remove his case to federal court, that he had called the Dec. 14, 2020, meeting to cast the votes specifically to adhere to the legal requirements demanded of an alternate slate of electors. He argued that he sought counsel from the president’s legal team, who then explained the legal requirements to the alternate electors. The transcript, which was in Ms. Willis’s possession, shows much the same.

“We’re conducting this because the contest of the election in Georgia is ongoing. And so we continue to contest the election of the electors in Georgia,” Mr. Smith said after Mr. Shafer introduced him at the meeting.

President Trump had filed a lawsuit against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Dec. 4, 2020, alleging that tens of thousands of illegal votes were cast. A recount took place after that, which resulted in the 11,779-vote lead that Joe Biden held in the state, which would give him Georgia’s 16 electoral votes when the electors were to cast them on Dec. 14, 2020.

President Trump’s legal challenge was still pending in court as the date drew near. In order for the challenge to continue past Dec. 14, 2020, two slates of electoral ballots needed to be cast.

“The President has filed a contest to the certified returns. That contest is pending,” Mr. Shafer said at the meeting. “It’s not been decided or even heard by any judge with the authority to hear it. And so in order to preserve his rights, it’s important that the Republican nominees for presidential elector meet here today and cast their votes.”

Emulating 1960 Procedures

In 1960, Democrat John F. Kennedy won Hawaii by a narrow margin of just 115 votes. Both Democrat and Republican officials sought a recount, which then gave Mr. Nixon, a Republican, a 141-count lead.

The result was challenged and pending in court as the deadline to cast the electoral votes drew near. As a result, on Dec. 19, 1960, the deadline, both the official Republican slate of electors and the contingent Democrat slate of electors cast their votes.

On Jan. 6, 1961, then-Vice President Nixon presented both slates of electoral votes. Then, he certified his own loss.

“In order not to delay the further count of the electoral vote here, the Chair, without the intent of establishing a precedent, suggests that the electors named in the certificate of the Governor of Hawaii dated January 4, 1961, be considered as the lawful electors from the States of Hawaii,” he said, asking the votes for Mr. Kennedy to be counted (pdf). The Senate unanimously voted to do so.

So, Mr. Shafer, on Dec. 14, 2020, convened the Republican Party meeting to nominate the 16 necessary electors and cast the votes on the same day that the Democrat slate of electors cast its own set of votes.

“If we did not hold this meeting, then our election contest would effectively be abandoned, is that not correct?” Mr. Shafer asked Mr. Smith.

“That’s correct,” Mr. Smith said.

“And so the only way for us to have any judge consider the merits of our complaint, the thousands of people who we allege voted unlawfully, is for us to have this meeting and permit the contest to continue, is that not correct?” Mr. Shafer asked.

“That’s correct, Mr. Chairman,” Mr. Smith answered.