Roy Estabrook’s is concerned “Trump and his Republican enablers … could always concoct some national emergency that requires (the election) to be put off till ‘further notice.'” He even suggests a presidential declaration of widespread martial law. (“No limit to how low Trump can go,” letter, June 7).

The Insurrection Act of 1807, as amended, has never been used to stop an election. Wikipedia’s handy chart reveals at least 20 instances when presidents dispatched troops to local areas to restore order. Lyndon Johnson quelled race riots in four cities over a nine-month period in 1967-68, but troops never stopped balloting. Unless an election became an insurrection, there’s no precedent for use of the act; we’ve not fallen to the level of a banana republic.

Next, can the president stop a national election? Well, no. Let’s look at the last good-sized “national insurrection” the American Civil War. Does the Wikipedia table have any entries for that period? Strangely, or maybe not, no. Both sets of states, those in the Union and the Confederacy, continued holding national elections right through the grand-daddy of all insurrections; nobody skipped a beat! The Constitution gives the right to hold elections and elect the president to the states. There’s no role for the federal government to play or even intervene.

Finally, folks should always be aware of mischief-making and wayward tweets. Vigilance and vigorous use of the ballot box is the best cure for conspiracies and insurrections.

F. Gerard Nault
Windsor