US elections head to court

(COMBO) This combination of images created on November 4, 2020 shows (top to bottom, column from left to right) a man leaving his mail-in ballot in a mailbox in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 29 of 2020; Ballots are viewed before being counted at the Northampton County Courthouse on November 3, 2020 in Easton, Pennsylvania; Ballots are processed by a poll worker in Northampton County Courthouse on November 3, 2020 in Easton, Pennsylvania; Mail-in sorted ballots at the King County Elections office in Renton, Washington on November 3, 2020; Ballots are processed at the Northampton County Courthouse on November 3, 2020 in Easton, Pennsylvania; poll workers count absentee votes for the 2020 general election at the TCF Center on November 4, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan; a police officer stands guard as poll workers count absentee votes for the 2020 general election in Detroit, Michigan; and a poll worker processes mail-in ballots at the elections office in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 29, 2020. – President Donald Trump, on November 4, 2020, one day after the United States presidential election , said he had won, even though final results had not yet been released, and said he would go to the Supreme Court to dispute the vote count. The Republican, who according to initial results is in a melee race with Democrat Joe Biden, said he would go to court and that “we want the voting to stop.” It seemed to mean stopping the counting of mail-in ballots that can be legally accepted by state boards of elections after Tuesday’s election, provided they are mailed on time. The issue could become crucial in states that are still tabulating votes in a very close race. Democrats are believed to cast more mail ballots than Trump supporters. (AFP photo)

WASHINGTON, United States – Democrats and Republicans prepared for a legal showdown on Wednesday to decide the winner of the tightly-fought presidential race between Republican Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

After Trump declared overnight that he was ready to go to the United States Supreme Court to dispute the vote count, his campaign announced a recount lawsuit in Wisconsin and lawsuits in Michigan and Pennsylvania, three states each side needs to do. win the presidency.

Trump’s behavior raised the specter that the election was finally decided, as in 2000, by a higher court ruling on how states can count votes or carry out recounts.

– The Lawsuits – The Trump campaign demands attack a unique aspect of the 2020 election: that states and tens of millions of voters turned to mail ballots due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus forced states to promote mail ballots and change the rules about how and when mail ballots would be collected, verified and tabulated.

That included extending the periods to receive ballots, due to an overloaded United States Postal Service, adding time to count the votes and other steps to facilitate the process.

Republicans say some of those changes were decided or implemented incorrectly and in ways that favor Democrats.

In Pennsylvania, the Trump campaign said it would join an existing Republican lawsuit over extending the state’s deadline for receiving mail-in ballots.

If successful, they have the potential to disqualify tens of thousands of ballots turned in to electoral authorities after November 2.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has already deemed the extension legal, and the matter reached the U.S. Supreme Court last week, which rejected it and refused to get involved.

But the high court left the door open for a challenge after the election.

The Trump campaign also said it was demanding that ballot counting in the state be temporarily halted, claiming that Democrats were hiding the process. In Philadelphia, the count was broadcast live.

And they sued for an adjustment made to the voter identification procedures also made to adapt to the coronavirus, saying it violated the electoral code.

In Michigan, the Trump campaign sued to halt the counting process saying they were not given “meaningful access.”

– Can the court decide the choice? –

Yes. In 2000, the race between Republican George Bush and Democrat Al Gore for the White House centered on one state, Florida.

With Bush leading by just 537 votes out of six million and widespread problems with state ballots, Gore’s campaign sought a statewide recount.

The Bush campaign appealed the case to the US Supreme Court, which ruled effectively blocking the full recount, handing the election over to Bush.

But experts say such lawsuits are only practical if they focus on a real problem and the division between the two parties is narrow.

If the margins between the two parties in that state are two or three percentage points, say, a difference of 100,000 votes in Pennsylvania, “it is quite difficult to litigate at the end of the day,” said Derek Muller, professor of law at the University of Iowa.

However, Muller said, “if it comes down to one state, then I would expect really serious litigation.”

– Scary Supreme Court –

If a campaign or candidate files a lawsuit for state regulation, they must first exhaust their options in the state justice system before going to federal court and the United States Supreme Court.

By leveraging the existing ballot extension case, with Trump himself as the injured party, his campaign has increased its chances of being heard by a higher court.

But the Supreme Court has been cautious in engaging in voting matters that are decided by state law, and is aware that it risked its position as an independent body by effectively handing the 2000 election to Bush.

One case would put the political leanings of the nine justices – six conservatives and three liberals – in the spotlight, with the harshest light on the newest court member, Amy Coney Barrett, who joined the court just the month past, chosen by Trump.

Trump repeatedly said that he rushed her appointment in part so that she could be on site to hear any election case, placing an immediate cloud over her.

“The Supreme Court doesn’t have to intervene,” Muller said.

“I felt it was necessary in 2000, but it’s not necessarily clear that they would feel the same way today.”

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