WASHINGTON: The United States presidential elections are on the verge of turning into a chaotic sham fit for a banana republic after President Donald Trump claimed he won before a full vote count and said he would approach the country’s Supreme Court to stop a “fraud” against the American people.
In a nightmare scenario that some commentators had anticipated based on Trump’s own pronouncements for weeks, the president of the United States threw a wrench into an already chaotic electoral process, accused Democrats of trying to steal the elections and demanded that they stop. all votes after 4 am.
“We will win this. As far as we are concerned, we already won it,” Trump told his supporters at a meeting at 2.30 am, trying to force an end to the electoral process;
There is nothing in the law that requires results on election night or even the next day, and the counting process is largely the domain of the states. It’s unclear whether Trump was serious about approaching the Supreme Court and, if he did, on what basis he would stop counting votes. In at least two cases, the US Supreme Court has yielded to the states.
Trump claimed victories in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and North Carolina, all states where the count is still going on, claiming their tracks were too big for the Democratic ballot to reach. While it was clearly in the lead in all of these states, Democrats, demanding a full and complete count, argued that the final score would be reversed because in most cases mail-in ballots, which favor Democrats, have yet to are counted. In some states, votes from heavily Democratic cities are also yet to be counted, Democratic agents said.
Shortly before his attempted electoral and political coup for which he is invoking the intervention and approval of the Supreme Court, Trump tweeted: “We are in a BIG time, but they are trying to STEAL the elections. We will never let them do it. The votes cannot. be kicked out after the Poles are closed! ”
“Millions of people voted for us … some sad people are trying to disenfranchise them. We were ready to celebrate and all of a sudden it was canceled,” Trump later told his supporters.
While there were no significant reports of votes cast after the elections (which the president misspelled), no one had stopped the count. In fact, the count continued even after Trump spoke at 230 a.m. In some states like Wisconsin, state officials are mandated to finish counting votes on a stretch, no matter how long it takes. The Wisconsin count is expected to end at 6 am and offer a final screening.
It’s quite possible that Trump could still win after a full ballot count is completed in the states he leads in, so it was unclear why he would seek to stop the count, unless he fears a loss. There were no reports of large-scale fraud or late casting of votes to help Trump defend his case.
As audacious as Trump’s coup attempt is audacious, the president of the United States has been quite transparent about it, warning for weeks that he is against counting unsolicited ballots and wants the results to be declared. election night, even though there is no legal or constitutional requirement. to do it.
In fact, what have long been considered “results” on election night or the morning after are actually projections made by the media, primarily the Associated Press and television networks. Formal results are declared by the Secretary of State in each state several days after the election, only after all votes have been tabulated.
Perhaps in anticipation of Trump’s move, Democratic candidate Joe Biden called a meeting about an hour earlier to demand a full recount of the votes while declaring, “It is not my place and Trump’s place to claim a victory. It is up to the American people.” Biden did not claim a victory, “adding,” It is not over until all the ballots are counted. ”
An hour later, Trump claimed he won the election, despite millions of votes yet to be counted and the formal results have yet to be declared.
On Video: 2020 US Election Results: Trump Says Democrats Try To ‘Steal’ Elections
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