Your vote means something only if the count is honored. Certification is the final step that turns ballots into a result, and it is supposed to be a duty, not a weapon. Petitioners say the Justice Department has gone to court to delay certification of a Senate election in Alaska, at the president's direction. Whatever the outcome there, the danger is plain. If federal lawyers can be sent to stall a result the White House may not like, no election is safe, in any state, for any party. States run elections. Courts settle ballot disputes. A president does not get to override either because his side might lose. Voters are the ones who lose when certification becomes a bargaining chip. This power must be shut off before it becomes routine. Prohibit the Justice Department from suing to block or delay a state's certification of its election results.
