“This Is How Democracy Dies”: Lincoln Project’s Philip Germain Warns of West Virginia’s Controversial Electoral Bill

Philip Germain of The Lincoln Project raised alarm bells on Monday, drawing attention to a controversial bill proposed by West Virginia’s Republican-led legislature. The bill, if passed, would allow the state to withhold its electoral votes in the presidential race if the legislature suspects election fraud, despite such a provision not applying to other races on the ballot.

In a scathing post on X, Germain expressed deep concern, stating, “This is how democracy dies.” The bill’s language is explicitly partisan, highlighting perceived threats against Republican candidates and suggesting a failure on the part of the current Democratic-led federal government. One of the bill’s more dramatic justifications reads: “Whereas, in the 2024 election cycle there have been, to date, two assassination attempts on the Republican nominee for President of the United States while threats of assassination of the Republican nominees for president and vice president abound.

The federal government, under the current Democrat-led regime, has utterly failed, and continues to fail, in a suspicious manner, in its absolute duty to adequately protect the Republican nominee for president.”

The bill’s timing coincides with a special legislative session called by West Virginia’s Republican Governor Jim Justice, who is currently running for the U.S. Senate. Typically, West Virginia’s legislative session ends by mid-March, but Gov. Justice issued a proclamation bringing the body back on September 28 to address the budget.

Critics like Germain argue that the proposed bill goes beyond the scope of the budget, the primary focus of the special session. “The bills proposed in the second session deal with supplemental appropriations, which the election doesn’t fall under,” he pointed out. The introduction of such an election-focused measure during a budget session has raised eyebrows and sparked debates over the intentions behind the bill.

Germain also highlighted other controversial aspects of the proposal, including language suggesting that voter fraud is already occurring in the state due to illegal immigrants registering to vote. The resolution goes further, stating that West Virginia’s Secretary of State, Attorney General, and legislature could unilaterally determine if fraud has occurred and reject the presidential election results based on their findings.

The bill has ignited fierce discussions among political observers and civil rights advocates, who see it as a dangerous precedent that undermines the democratic process. Germain’s warning serves as a call to action for those who view such measures as threats to fair elections and the integrity of American democracy.

As the special session continues, all eyes are on West Virginia’s legislature to see if this controversial bill will move forward and how it might reshape the state’s electoral future.