“If we win on Tuesday, or —thank you very much, Supreme Court —shortly thereafter” — Trump on the trail today
It appears that the Republicans have a plan in place to discard massive numbers of ballots that arrive after election day. And there is even a move afoot to discard ballots that are counted after election day. They are both serious assaults on democracy since there is ZERO evidence of any kind of fraud or other shenanigans, and the latter is a stunningly radical path that would require not only discarding millions upon millions of ballots, but the election laws in all 50 states in a way that would permanently disenfranchise many of their voters in the future.
It is simply impossible to count all the votes on election day — it has never been done and is not required anywhere.
In a normal world with a normal conservative party, this would not be happening. The Republicans would be grateful to the Democrats for getting rid of the unfit, imbecile who got into their leadership on a fluke, has nearly destroyed their party and the nation. But this is not a normal world and they are apparently preparing to fight for him all the way
Republican Party officials say they’re already looking to Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Nevada as likely battlegrounds for post-election lawsuits if the results are close.
As pre-election lawsuits draw to a close, and with President Trump running behind Joe Biden in national and many battleground state polls, Republicans are turning their attention to preparations for Election Day and beyond, and potential recounts.
They have 50,000 volunteers, attorneys and staff working election day operations, with an emphasis in presidential battleground states.
A multi-state wave of litigation brought by both Republicans and Democrats could unfold over the course of several days next week. Where and over what depends on the margins of victory in each state.
What they’re saying: “There’s a good chance you won’t see any litigation” if an election outcome does not hinge on the ballots set aside, one GOP official familiar with the planning said on a call with reporters. “But if it’s really close, to be frank, these ballots are going to become a point of contention.”
Driving the news: Republican Party officials who briefed reporters on litigation plans Friday said they’re watching late-arriving ballots that will be segregated in Pennsylvania and Minnesota, and have sued for ballot counting records from Clark County, Nevada, to test whether signature-matching standards there are lower than the rest of the state.Amid lawsuits over extended mail-in ballot deadlines in Pennsylvania and Minnesota, election officials will now separate ballots that arrive after Election Day in case the courts decide they should not be counted.
The Supreme Court denied Republicans’ request to expedite review of the mail-in ballot deadline in Pennsylvania this week. But Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas notably left open the possibility of the court taking up the case after the election.
The Minnesota lawsuit hasn’t made its way to the Supreme Court yet.
We know that Kavanaugh, Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch are radical and are ready to do it. They’ve signaled their intentions in the elections decisions they’ve already heard. Roberts seems to be committed to voting that state law should prevail, whatever it is. That means this will likely be up to Amy Coney Barrett who was put on the court to make sure Trump wins any case that makes its way to the Supreme Court.
Just how radical is she?
Scalia was her mentor. Trump put her on the court with the understanding that she would put him back in the White House.