Nov 09, 2020

Greetings from Washington, D.C., where media outlets have declared Joe Biden president-elect even as recounts and lawsuits are ongoing. Heritage President Kay C. James has something to say about that. Meanwhile, Heritage Action for America has dispatched lawyers and volunteers to key states to ensure ballot integrity. As this process plays out, our experts are already looking ahead to what all this means for conservatives. Read about all this and much more in this week’s Agenda.

We Must Have Election Results We Can Trust
Joe Biden once said that democracy “sometimes requires a little patience.” Yet he, backed by media outlets, declared victory Saturday while recounts and pending litigation are underway in battleground states. In a statement released over the weekend, Heritage President Kay C. James said that this legal process must play out for the public to trust the election results. “Anyone rushing to the finish, including the media and those with a vested interest in one outcome, are doing a disservice to the country,” she said. Read her full statement.

Heritage Experts Give a Rundown of Legal Battles Across the Country
With a flurry of legal challenges being mounted in several states, it can be difficult to keep track. Heritage legal fellows Hans von Spakovsky and Zack Smith are doing that as part of our election integrity project. “States have until Dec. 8 to settle any election disputes and certify their results,” they note. “Hopefully, this litigation will be a reminder that clear election rules established by state legislatures well before an election can avoid delays and problems after an election.” Read their full commentary to find out more about the lawsuits being filed in key states.

What Lies Ahead for America?
Even before we know the outcome of every race, there is much that we can learn from this election. To that end, Heritage’s Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies assembled an all-star panel of experts to share their unique insights on how the results could translate into policy and action. “If we have a President Biden and the Senate flips to the Democrats, the filibuster will be lost and we’ll have a rubber stamp for tax hikes, single-payer health care, and the Green New Deal. And perhaps the single-most dangerous part of that scenario is the packing of the Supreme Court,” says Heritage President Kay C. James in her introductory remarks. Watch the full panel to learn more about the challenges and opportunities we face ahead as a nation.

In the weeks and months leading up to Election Day, Heritage Foundation experts made sure Americans understood the importance of election integrity. Under the leadership of President Kay C. James, Heritage has made the issue of election integrity one of its top priorities. Read how Heritage is leading the way.

Heritage Action for America has deployed more than 100 volunteers and lawyers in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to help ensure that ballot counting is done fairly and accurately. These volunteers are prepared to stay as long as necessary, and Heritage Action has issued a call to action for more volunteers to join them, whether by calling their elected officials as citizens or lending their legal expertise as lawyers and more. Click here for more information about joining Heritage Action’s Sentinel program.

THURSDAY at 2 p.m., Heritage will host a virtual discussion about the origins of religious liberty in America and its enduring importance to our democracy. This event will feature remarks from Emilie Kao, director Heritage’s DeVos Center; Wilfred McClay, a visiting fellow at Heritage’s Simon Center for American Studies and history professor at the University of Oklahoma; Jeffry Morrison, a professor of American studies at Christopher Newport University; and Eric Patterson, executive vice president of the Religious Freedom Institute. Register for the webinar.

FRIDAY at noon, Heritage will host a virtual event discussing the ethics, policies, and philosophies at the core of today's bioethics debates. Join the academic all-star panel of O. Carter Snead, law professor at Notre Dame and director of its de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture; Robert P. George, professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University; Yuval Levin, director of social, cultural, and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and editor-in-chief of National Affairs. Register for the webinar.

Hans von Spakovsky, manager of Heritage’s Election Law Reform Initiative, joined “Fox News at Night with Shannon Bream” to discuss the lawsuits that have been filed so far in the 2020 election. Watch the interview. 

Leftist leaders have grown bolder in their calls to fundamentally change America’s electoral system by abolishing the Electoral College. Experts at The Heritage Foundation have produced “The Essential Electoral College” to explain why this would be disastrous. Check out the website and email us your thoughts and questions at [email protected].