H/T Political Wire and Balloon Juice:
Obenshain May Ask Virginia Legislature to Intervene
The lawyer representing Mark Obenshain (R) in the pending statewide recount in the Virginia attorney general race on "for the first time openly raised the issue of contesting the election in the General Assembly if the tally does not sway the result in the Republican's favor," the Richmond Times Dispatch reports.
"If he loses the recount, Obenshain could ask a joint session of the General Assembly -- which is dominated by Republicans -- to reverse the results. Under state law, grounds for a contest include objections to 'the conduct or results of the election accompanied by specific allegations which, if proven true, would have a probable impact on the outcome of the election.'"
Aside from the sheer, jaw-dropping effrontery of it all - and as far I can see, even casually floating this idea reeks of the worst sort of election-rigging chicanery one would expect from, say, some "developing nation" off on the fringes of world political norms (Mugabe's Zimbabwe, frex), not one of the United States of America.
Close elections and/or recounts are one thing - and common enough: Aside from the ground-breaking (and not in a good way) that this sort of end-run around the results of an election might entail, two questions come to mind:
1. Has this ever happened before?
2. Could they/can they get away with it?