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People are realizing quite clearly that enough discrepancies exist with this Presidential election cycle that the likelihood of Audits/Recounts within contested states occurring is increasing. Some have already declared they will do so. https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/georgia-will-recount-all-votes-presidential-race-by-hand-secretary-state-says/IGGCKZEHRFFQTBAWGBP7SPJNYM/
What people do not realize is that this isn’t where the thought should end. The states themselves hold sovereignty over their own elections and in HOW any recount, audit or adjustment will take place AND what that means for the election.
They control the PROCESS.
What Georgia may do to decide on whether their votes are tallied according to law is NOT what Arizona may do. In fact, it could possibly vary by precinct depending upon internal power struggles and how far election officials and lawyers are willing to go.
A desired outcome for these officials is quite motivating and the fact that illegalities don't seem to phase many politicians and political movers lets us know just what route they may take.
You could end up with known partisan election officials thumbing their nose at the process acting to delay or obstruct any recount or audit while vocally condemning any reporting of such actions.
Of course, these fine officials would never consider such a thing. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-philadelphia-judge-elections-convicted-conspiring-violate-civil-rights-and-bribery
Remember Detroit? https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/04/tcf-center-challengers-detroit-michigan/6164715002/
"Meanwhile, some Democratic challengers said they showed up to make sure things were fair." “I just want to make sure that all Michigan votes are counted,” said Liz Linkewitz, 35, of Harrison Township. “This election is, as Joe Biden says, for the soul of our country.”
That sounds Apolitical, Right? What garbage! And the person who failed to get all this right in Detroit is the SAME person that the legacy media decides to take at her word that everything went just fine: Janice Wenfry.
They say that the Detroit City Clerk is apolitical. A true public servant. That’s great, except she ran as a Democrat in 2016 for the 13th Congressional District of Michigan, a Democrat stronghold. How apolitical is that? I expect defiance. https://ballotpedia.org/Janice_Winfrey
So, now that we know there will be on the ground struggles even during the recounts and must prepare accordingly. But what could these processes look like and how do they play out?
Election officials have some agency to disqualify ballots. But largely, and rightfully so, it is left up to the courts. The courts don’t just have authority to rule whether votes were legal or illegal. They also hold agency over HOW the vote or election will be handled in ruling.
That means we see a few possibilities all varying depending upon evidence produced and then proven in court. Each state could be different.
1: Illegal votes are cast out, Legal votes remain, Elections results are adjusted accordingly. Election ends. https://law.justia.com/cases/arkansas/supreme-court/2000/99-953-954.html
2: Substantial fraud at a level beyond voter fraud, i.e. ELECTION FRAUD. Void the election. Voided Federal Elections have almost NO precedent here in the U.S. Here is Wikipedia of the 1974 New Hampshire Senate election that required just that. Rare for Federal Elections.
This example had no fraud but is cited as an example of one of the few Federal elections made void. I do not see this in our future.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_and_1975_United_States_Senate_elections_in_New_Hampshire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_and_1975_United_States_Senate_elections_in_New_Hampshire
3: Fraud but not enough for the election results to be changed. Doesn't matter; courts crush you. The point they make is that if you engage in fraud, your candidacy is done, regardless of any legal votes you may have received. This I like!
4. Fraud occurred but the candidate had no role. Outside parties interfered on an election wide scale effecting primarily a single type of ballot: Absentee/Mail-in. Results: Disqualify all absentee/mail-in ballots and adjust total. https://law.justia.com/cases/florida/supreme-court/1975/46282-0.html
5. What if we prove that enough votes were changed that they COULD have altered the result, but we didn’t prove they DID change the result?
Proportional reassignment. 100 Fraudulent votes in the county. The county voted 70% for Candidate A, 30% for Candidate B. That means of the 100 fraudulent votes, the court could assign 70% to candidate A, and 30% to Candidate B. https://law.justia.com/cases/arizona/supreme-court/1990/cv-88-0413-sa-2.html
6. What if we prove that fraud occurred, votes were changed but we don’t want to disenfranchise those whose votes were unknowingly changed. After all, they voted legally, and outside parties acted maliciously via software/ELINT. There is something called a “Restricted Election”.
These people could be selected to recast their votes so that an accurate measure may be taken. I would expect usage of the fouled software would be out and hand counting would be in place. These recast votes are added to the tally and the election is resolved.
As we can see none of this is really addressed by our Founders or by State Constitutions, Louisiana excepted. The likelihood of a uniform process being in place any time soon is low.
I don’t claim to know of how this will turn out. All I can say is this: If Trump wins reelection, and I suspect he will, the discourse will change yet again to become even more divisive.
The media will again double down. The Deep State, Swamp, Borg -whatever you wish to call them - will shift gears and perhaps take an even more overt role against President Trump. I can’t imagine how much more overt they could be. Covert measures scare me more.
The Streets of major cities will be unpassable for some time and the country will be further divided. As always: Be kind to your neighbors.
