Update on Trump Lawsuits
As the U.S. election drama continues to unfold,
President Trump and various Republican forces have
filed about 30 lawsuits so far and more are
possible. Most have been dismissed, many for lack
of evidence of fraud, but others are still
pending. The more significant among these are the
efforts to block certification of the vote in
Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, and Nevada. If
Trump were to succeed in blocking certification in
Pennsylvania and Michigan and one of the other
two, Biden would not have the 270 Electoral
College votes necessary for election. The main aim
is not changing the vote count, but in blocking
certification and pushing Biden below 270, which
would mean the House of Representatives would
decide the presidency. In that vote, each state
gets one vote and currently 27 states have a
majority of Republicans in the delegation. However
that could change when all results are in for
House elections.
Besides the issuance of an injunction, one result
of each of the lawsuits could have been to block
certification of the voting results in a given
state by causing enough delay so as to prevent
certification in the state by the date required by
state law. However, the results were already
certified in Georgia, where the deadline was
November 20. Certification is expected in
Michigan and Pennsylvania, both states where the
deadline is Monday, November 23. The county
results were already certified in Nevada on
November 16 and the statewide results will be
certified on November 24.
In Arizona, where the deadline is the 23rd, the
Republican Party called for a broader audit of
votes beyond Maricopa County, which includes
Phoenix. Such an audit would delay certification.
An Arizona state judge threw out the lawsuit with
prejudice, meaning there can be no appeal. He also
denied the party's request for an injunction to
block Maricopa County from certifying its election
results. This effectively removed Arizona as an
arena for decertification.
Georgia
Georgia completed a hand recount that gave Biden
the most votes by 12,780 out of 5 million cast.
The Georgia Secretary of State, Brad
Raffensperger, a Republican, has repeatedly said
the count is valid and there was no fraud. He
ordered the recount to counter Trump claims that
the election was not conducted fairly.
Raffensperger certified the election results on
November 20 and Governor Brian Kemp then approved
the slate of electors for Biden November 21. This
then complicates Trump's efforts as he will need
more than decertification of Michigan and
Pennsylvania to put Biden below the 270 mark
needed for election. With Georgia, Biden now has
306 Electoral College votes and losing Michigan
and Pennsylvania would still put him at 270.
Michigan
Michigan is required to certify by November 23.
Already, the certification process is showing that
the structure is designed to leave the decision in
the hands of a few people from the cartel parties.
Each county has a Board of Canvassers, commonly
made up of 4 people, two Republican and two
Democrats. They vote at the county level and their
results are sent to the State Board of Canvassers,
also four people, two from each party, which
certifies the state vote.
When the time came for Wayne County, which
includes Detroit, to certify, there was at first a
2-2 vote with Republicans saying there were
irregularities in Detroit. The city is about 80
percent African American. There was then
"discussion" among them and a second vote taken
and Wayne County certified 4-0. Afterward the two
Republicans said they wanted to rescind their vote
in favor of certification, but no mechanism exists
to do so.
However, the Trump forces had filed a federal
lawsuit calling to block certification based on
irregularities, Detroit being one of the places
given. They have since withdrawn the suit, saying
affidavits from the two Republicans rescinding
their vote showed they had won. This then prevents
a court ruling while also positioning them to have
a new lawsuit, one that could go to the Supreme
Court, if the State Board certifies the vote. It
also provides Republicans on the State Board
ammunition not to certify. In this manner the
control by this handful of people and the partisan
nature of the decisions is evident.
Pennsylvania
For Pennsylvania two federal lawsuits could go to
the Supreme Court. One involves the decision by
the state Secretary of State to extend the
deadline for receiving mail-in ballots from
Election Day November 3 to November 6. Supreme
Court Justice Alito has already said it is a case
worth review by the Court and that the decision by
the Secretary of State, rather than the state
legislature, could be unconstitutional. Such a
ruling could impact Michigan and Wisconsin as
well. So far the Supreme Court has not agreed to
hear the case.
A second lawsuit involves directly preventing
certification of the vote. Trump is saying that
the entire process was unconstitutional as a
result of a broad array of irregularities. These
include that mail ballots were illegally counted
and that voters were improperly allowed to fix
defective ballots, meaning perhaps a signature was
missing or an inside envelope. While claiming the
vote is invalid, the lawsuit also asks for "the
remedy of Trump being declared the winner" in
Pennsylvania. At the least they do not want the
vote certified so Biden would not secure the 20
Electoral College votes.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann, hearing the
case, said halting certification would effectively
disenfranchise all voters in the state: "At
bottom, you are asking this court to invalidate
6.8 million votes, thereby disenfranchising every
single voter in the Commonwealth." He added, "Can
you tell me how this result can possibly be
justified?"
Two of the law firms that had been preparing the
case withdrew, with lawyers saying there was not
sufficient evidence. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani
then took over. He said during the hearing that
there was "widespread, nationwide voter fraud,"
but offered no evidence. The judge asked for
written filings and, on November 21, dismissed the
case in its entirety. Trump can still appeal to
the Supreme Court of the United States. One of the
difficulties, however, is that among the people, a
ruling by the Supreme Court in Trump's favour
would be rejected. The Court is seen as stacked in
Trump's favour and any such decision would no
doubt trigger broad resistance and perhaps strikes
by the workers. An attempt to use violence against
such actions would only further discredit the
entire process and strengthen resolve among the
people for change in their favour.
Nevada
With Georgia likely no longer in play, Trump is
now turning to Nevada, with 6 Electoral College
votes, just enough to put Biden below 270 when
combined with Pennsylvania and Michigan. Nevada
has a system where county clerks reported to
groups of commissioners for each of the 17
counties on November 16. Clark County includes Las
Vegas, and Washoe includes Reno and both are
considered key. Clark commissioners voted 6-1 in
favour of certification and Washoe 4-1. The
overall results favoured Biden by 33,596 votes of
the almost 1.4 million votes cast. The votes
certified by the county commissioners now go to
the Nevada Supreme Court for final certification
of the statewide vote on November 24.
Trump filed a lawsuit November 17. According to a
court filing released by his campaign, the lawsuit
requests a court order that Trump "be declared the
winner of the Election in Nevada," or,
alternatively, that the results in the state are
annulled and no winner is certified there. The
lawsuit was brought by Trump's slate of electors
for the Electoral College. The lawsuit claims,
again providing no evidence, that "fraud and abuse
renders the purported results of the Nevada
election illegitimate."
Other Concerns
It can be seen that in addition to attempting to
decertify the vote, Trump is also laying the
groundwork for eliminating the role of county and
state officials when it comes to presidential
elections. He has repeatedly directed his fire at
these officials, whether Republican or Democrat,
as part of discrediting the current structure for
elections.
Trump's move to have an obedient Supreme Court is
to establish as a fait accompli the open link
between the Supreme Court and the Office of the
Presidency. It smashes any pretense that the U.S.
Constitution provides what are called "checks and
balances" and pushes the envelope on what can
be accomplished by the prerogative powers of
the U.S. executive not only abroad but
domestically as well. Biden will avail himself of
this precedent just like Obama availed himself of
the powers seized by Bush before him.
All of it shows the urgent need to renew the U.S.
Constitution and its institutions on the new
historical basis. They are rotten to the core and
unfit for the modern era.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 45 - November 21, 2020
Article Link:
Update on Trump Lawsuits
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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