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As far as I can tell Trump campaign fraud claims fall into 4 buckets:
1) people voting who shouldn’t have (eg dead)
2) election official wrongdoing (eg rules broken)
3) their poll watchers not getting full access
4) complaints about mail ballots arriving after election day
But...
1) people voting who shouldn’t have (eg dead)
2) election official wrongdoing (eg rules broken)
3) their poll watchers not getting full access
4) complaints about mail ballots arriving after election day
But...
Number 4 questionable - allowed for military ballots, other rules were agreed before the vote
Number 3 a side issue - not an example of fraudulent votes and disputed in many places.
Examples given for 1 + 2 are v limited. Being looked into. Some circulating online disproved.
Number 3 a side issue - not an example of fraudulent votes and disputed in many places.
Examples given for 1 + 2 are v limited. Being looked into. Some circulating online disproved.
Remember Trump isn’t just claiming a few voting irregularities. He’s alleging a conspiracy to steal the election from him.
The Trump campaign therefore needs to provide evidence for a) widespread and systematic vote fraud b) Trump being the target.
That hasn’t happened yet.
The Trump campaign therefore needs to provide evidence for a) widespread and systematic vote fraud b) Trump being the target.
That hasn’t happened yet.
Also said before but worth repeating: This is not 2000.
In that election Bush tipped over the 270 electoral mark by a single state (Florida) and 500ish votes.
In this election Biden tipped over that mark by multiple states and 1000s or tens of thousands of votes.
In that election Bush tipped over the 270 electoral mark by a single state (Florida) and 500ish votes.
In this election Biden tipped over that mark by multiple states and 1000s or tens of thousands of votes.
This means for a court challenge to succeed in changing the result, tens of thousands of ballots would need to be invalidated in multiple states. Which is a tall order.
One last point - this is something to keep an eye on. The president is technically picked not by the average voter but by ‘electors’, the people from each state who cast those ‘electoral votes’ we always talk about. They normally do so in line with their state’s vote. But...
... what happens if the state vote is unclear? That could be an argument for the state legislature picking its own electors. And which party controls the state legislatures in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin? The Republicans.
If that sounds wild-eyed, do read the relevant 1,200-word chunk of this forensic Atlantic piece pre-election about the chaos that could follow. Author had numerous Repub sources in Pennsylvania indicating they were considering that route. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/11/what-if-trump-refuses-concede/616424/
Which is a long way of saying the Trump campaign legal challenges could have a secondary purpose - not just overturning votes but creating enough confusion for state legislatures to justify appointing electors. (Maybe. Maybe not. Let’s see.) end
