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WASHINGTON – Faced with the failure of multiple trials to try to turn the outcome of the US elections in his favor, President Donald Trump, defeated by Democrat Joe Biden, is now investing in another strategy: making the legislatures of key states where lost and who are dominated by Republicans to ignore the polls and appoint their supporters to the Electoral College. The offensive takes place just under three weeks before the deadline for the certification of the results of the presidential election by the states, on December 8, six days before the vote in the Electoral College. Trump thus signals that he will intensify his strategy of questioning the polls with unfounded accusations of fraud.
The president invited Republican state lawmakers from Michigan, where he lost by about 157,000 votes, to a conversation at the White House on Friday. Although the subject of the meeting has not been revealed, it is suspected that he will try to convince the parliamentarians to undertake his plan. The state is expected to certify the result on Monday.
‘Totally loathsome’:The Arizona electoral authority, where Biden won, claims to be threatened by Republicans
In Michigan’s case, however, its chances of success are slim: Earlier this week, State Senate Leader Mike Shirkey said that the attempt to change the outcome of the local election “would not happen.” It was Shirkey who received the invitation to the White House meeting, and it is not yet known how many MPs will go to Washington. Republican leaders in other key states, such as Georgia, Pennsylvania and Arizona, have also spoken out against the measure, according to the New York Times.
“Any changes to Georgia’s election laws, made in a special session, will not affect an ongoing election and will only result in endless litigation,” Republican State Governor Brian Kemp said in a statement.
The idea of subverting the electorate’s choice is based on a legal argument that experts consider extremely fragile. It is up to the state legislatures to choose how the delegates who make up the Electoral College will be defined: in all the states it was established that the only way to do this is the direct vote of the population.
After the defeat:Georgia’s secretary of state, who is a Republican, says he is under pressure from the party itself to exclude votes from the recount.
But there is a loophole: Under the Electoral Counting Act of 1887, if voters cannot pick a winner, the race will be declared a “failed election” and the task of choosing delegates goes to state legislatures. The law is ambiguous in defining what a “failed election” would be, and this is where the president’s strategy can now focus.
Rather than trying to reverse the results, the dozens of lawsuits initiated in Justice seem to have the central objective of delaying the counting of votes and, consequently, the certification of the results. If one or more states do not meet the deadline, the president can claim there was a “failed election” there, which could pave the way for Republican-controlled state legislatures to nominate their own representatives to the Electoral College. The 538 delegates will meet on December 14, with the final confirmation of the winner by Congress on January 6.
Phone calls
On Wednesday, Trump took a step forward in an attempt to disrupt the process, calling the two Republicans to the commission that certified the results in Wayne County, Michigan, where 75% of voters voted for Biden. The day before, the two refused to ratify the polling numbers in the county, effectively preventing the Democrat from being declared the winner in the state. After intense pressure, they ended up voting in favor of confirmation of the results, but after Trump’s phone calls, they tried to change positions again in court, which was quickly denied by state officials.
Defeats:Trump gives up essential parts of the action that question Pennsylvania’s outcome
Earlier on Thursday, the Trump campaign dropped a lawsuit that was moving in Michigan courts, trying to avoid confirmation of the result in the state. In the indictments, the attorneys wrongly pointed out that Wayne County had refused to make Biden’s victory official when the exact opposite happened. At a press conference, Trump’s attorney, Rudolph Giuliani, who took over the legal battles after others surrendered, remade the same fraud charges and continued to fail to provide evidence.
In Pennsylvania, the Trump campaign also adjusted to the new strategy and changed its argument again in the process in which Biden’s victory is disputed. Seeking to block the certification of the Democratic triumph, the president now argues that the local legislature, controlled by the Republicans, must choose the winner in the state, who sends 20 votes to the Electoral College. It was the first concrete initiative in the courts to try to give state legislators the power to elect delegates to the Electoral College. However, the measure is likely to fail as it goes against Pennsylvania law, and local Republican leaders themselves have also rejected the hypothesis.
On another front, pressure is mounting on business sectors in Washington and Wall Street for Trump to acknowledge his defeat and begin a formal transition. Some powerful institutions that once supported Trump, like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Manufacturers Association, are now backing away from him. At a business summit on Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase Bank CEO Jamie Dimon was adamant:
– We need a peaceful transition. We had a choice. We have a new president, we must support him. Whether we like the results or not, we must support democracy because it is based on a system of faith and trust.
