Jim Hagedorn is a Disgrace

Congressman Jim Hagedorn was among the majority of Republican members of the House of Representatives who objected to the certification of Pennsylvania’s electoral votes. Not on the basis of voter fraud, as there is absolutely no real evidence of widespread fraud, but on the basis that they disapproved of the procedures put in place by the Pennsylvania legislature. There are many reasons I find Congressman Hagedorn’s decision to participate in this affront to democracy abhorrent, but I find it particularly alarming that he is setting a precedent that could come to bear on our votes here in Minnesota.

As a state, Minnesota boasts a high voter turnout, providing avenues for survivors of domestic violence, the unhoused, and the disabled to securely and easily participate in our elections. This includes a robust system of absentee voting. Now that Congressman Hagedorn and his colleagues have taken it upon themselves to challenge a state’s right to determine their own election system, and in the process attempt to deprive millions of citizens of their right to vote, who’s to say the next challenge won’t be to our votes? Congressman Hagedorn, did you think at all of the Minnesotans you purport to represent when attacking the votes of American citizens? Do you care at all about the consequences your objection has already, and will inevitably, have on our nation and our state’s democracy? Either way, you have failed us in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, and should resign from office immediately.