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Former Vice President Joe Biden is ahead in four of the five states that are still counting ballots and are currently too close to call for good.
Recounts are expected in two states because the margins are so narrow: Wisconsin and Georgia, while President Donald Trump has said he plans to take legal challenges to ‘stop the count’ up to the Supreme Court. His team has already filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia.
So as Americans and the rest of the world eagerly await confirmation of who will be the next president of the United States, it could be some time before an official result is known, if the tallies and legal challenges continue.
There are rules set in the states about when recounts can take place, and they are triggered automatically in some states if the margins of victory are extremely tight.
Beyond a recount, either candidate could accept a legal challenge for a host of reasons, but these efforts cannot last indefinitely. The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution establishes noon on January 20 as the day and time a new president must begin his term (or if the 20th is Sunday, then it is the 21st). Obviously a president must be installed by then, but they must be decided well in advance of that.
How do the counts happen in the US presidential elections?
All of the citizens who voted Tuesday, and the more than 100 million who voted before that date, were actually voting to decide how the Electoral College voters in their state – the electors – would cast their state’s votes for the presidency. The Electoral College meets to cast its votes on December 14, 2020. It is then that the result of the election becomes official and cannot be modified.
There is a provision for any delay in finalizing the results after Election Day and before this Electoral College voting day, whether those delays are due to recounts or legal challenges.
This is known as the “safe harbor deadline.” It allows a state to use procedures that were in place before Election Day to resolve any electoral controversy up to 35 days after the election and six days before the electors’ meeting to cast their votes, so this year would be the 8 from December. 2020.
If a state has not finalized its votes by now, because, for example, legal actions are not yet resolved, then the state legislature elects its own constituents to select the presidential victory for that state. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that the legislature cannot revoke the will of the people.
Both President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden quickly began raising funds for these legal challenges this week. They sent general emails to their supporters, with emotional emails that appear to come directly from the President and Mr. Biden respectively … this is standard practice for US political campaigns.
President Trump has created the Official Electoral Defense Fund, while former Vice President Biden calls it the Biden Fighting Fund. Trump is seeking a minimum donation of $ 5 from his supporters. Biden is seeking a minimum donation of $ 7.
Legal challenges to election results are not new and, to some extent, are expected to come in close contests. President Trump’s former chief of staff and now US special envoy to Northern Ireland, Mick Mulvaney, said yesterday that the lawsuits are only part of the post-election period. “Everybody is advocating, they are part of our system here.”
So while a clear winner may emerge in the next few hours or days, if there are many legal challenges, it may take some time before that result is officially confirmed and finalized.
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