[EL] ELB News and Commentary 11/19/20
Schultz, David
dschultz at hamline.edu
Thu Nov 19 14:58:56 PST 2020
Hi Justin and All:
I concur with Justin. If the basis of the delegation or apportionment of
electors is pursuant to state law or procedures outlined in the state
constitution regarding how a bill becomes a law then this is a matter of
state constitutional and statutory law which is not subject to preemption
by the US Constitution.
Also, in regards to the other thread about droves of people moving to
Georgia to vote, place this more in the camp of listserv and social media
fantasy than reality.
Sincerely,
David
On Thu, Nov 19, 2020 at 4:54 PM Levitt, Justin <justin.levitt at lls.edu>
wrote:
> There’s been quite a bit of recent traffic on the list on this. No
> Supreme Court case has ever directly given an answer to the question in
> this context (and I don’t think we’re going to get one now, because I don’t
> think the present nonsense will come anywhere close to the need for
> judicial resolution). But I make the argument here
> <https://ssrn.com/abstract=3714294> that the precedent we do have is
> firmly on the side of no free-floating legislative authority in this
> context – if the state constitution says that lawmaking power is subject to
> gubernatorial veto, nothing in the federal constitution unsettles that
> understanding for presidential elections.
>
>
>
> I know others on the list may disagree, though most of the disagreement
> I’ve heard pertains to circumstances well beyond the present factual
> context.
>
>
>
> Justin
>
>
>
> *From:* Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> *On
> Behalf Of *John Shockley
> *Sent:* Thursday, November 19, 2020 2:12 PM
> *To:* Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu>
> *Cc:* Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu>
> *Subject:* Re: [EL] ELB News and Commentary 11/19/20
>
>
>
> Perhaps this has already been answered on the list serve, but on the
> subject of legislatures taking back their power to select electors, I am
> wondering whether, if they did so, governors would have the power to veto
> such an action? As you know, the Constitution says "Each State shall
> appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct..." It
> doesn't say anything about governors having the power to veto what the
> legislature has directed. Of course, in EVERY state that Biden flipped,
> the state legislatures are controlled by Republicans, often through
> gerrymandering.
>
>
>
> Is there settled law on this issue of governors having a veto?
>
>
>
> Thanks for the help.
>
>
>
> John Shockley
>
> Political Science, retired
>
> Augsburg University
>
> Minneapolis
>
>
>
> On Thu, Nov 19, 2020 at 9:19 AM Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Persily and Stewart NYT Oped: “Trump Is Wrong. There’s No Evidence of
> Election Fraud in Philadelphia. The Claim Itself Is Fraudulent”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118827>
>
> Posted on November 19, 2020 7:13 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118827> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Must-read:
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/opinion/election-trump-philadelphia.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage>
>
> *Joe Biden’s lead in the presidential election results in Pennsylvania has
> now surpassed 81,000 votes, far exceeding Donald Trump’s 44,000-vote
> victory margin there four years ago. Yet the Trump campaign continues to
> claim in court huge but incalculable levels of fraud, particularly in
> Philadelphia.*
>
> *As with cases filed elsewhere around the country
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/us/politics/trump-election-lawsuits.html>,
> Mr. Trump will not succeed. Even a cursory examination of the data refutes
> any notion of substantial voting fraud…*
>
> *Just because Mr. Biden did worse than Mrs. Clinton and underperformed
> expectations this year does not disprove possible fraud, of course. Central
> to the “bad things are happening in Philadelphia” claim by Mr. Trump is the
> notion that a suspicious number of absentee ballots came in for Mr. Biden
> in Philadelphia. Absentee ballot fraud — either from dead people voting or
> election officials stuffing ballot boxes — is central to the Trump
> campaign’s claim of a stolen election. Again, the available evidence
> suggests nothing irregular.*
>
> *Mr. Biden received a higher percentage of the vote by mail than he did in
> the Election Day vote throughout the state. Philadelphia, which is much
> more Democratic than the rest of the state — 76 percent of the county’s
> voters are registered as Democrats, compared to 47 percent statewide — lies
> just where we would expect it to be, given the partisanship of the county.*
>
> *Skeptics of this analysis are likely to say that it is irrelevant,
> because the margins were so close that even a small number of manufactured
> ballots could make a difference. To this, we offer two rebuttals.*
>
> *The first is that Mr. Biden’s lead in the state, over 81,000 votes,
> is not close, and continues to grow. Second, for Mr. Biden’s lead to be the
> result of “stuffed” absentee ballots in Philadelphia would require that
> over 20 percent of mail ballots there to have been fraudulent. Such a large
> number of questionable ballots would have tripped off alarm bells for the
> Democratic and Republican officials who were overseeing the count.*
>
> *Statistical evidence such as this should not be necessary to cast doubt
> on the fraud claims being made in court by Mr. Trump’s campaign. The
> arguments simply are implausible on their face, in Pennsylvania and
> elsewhere. The allegations suggest a conspiracy or a remarkable coincidence
> of Republican and Democratic election officials in multiple states looking
> past or covering up hundreds of thousands of illegal votes.*
>
> *That’s not all that is implausible. The purported fraud appears to have
> affected only the top of the ballot and not the down-ballot races.
> Republican congressional candidates were surprisingly successful in those
> same states where allegations of illegality in the presidential race have
> been made.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118827&title=Persily%20and%20Stewart%20NYT%20Oped%3A%20%E2%80%9CTrump%20Is%20Wrong.%20There%E2%80%99s%20No%20Evidence%20of%20Election%20Fraud%20in%20Philadelphia.%20The%20Claim%20Itself%20Is%20Fraudulent%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in absentee ballots <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>, fraudulent
> fraud squad <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
>
>
>
>
> “As defeats pile up, Trump tries to delay vote count in last-ditch attempt
> to cast doubt on Biden victory” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118825>
>
> Posted on November 19, 2020 7:06 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118825> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> WaPo
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-election-strategy/2020/11/18/94fbe50e-29c9-11eb-92b7-6ef17b3fe3b4_story.html>
> :
>
> *President Trump has abandoned his plan to win reelection by disqualifying
> enough ballots to reverse President-elect Joe Biden’s wins in key
> battleground states, pivoting instead to a goal that appears equally
> unattainable: delaying a final count long enough to cast doubt on Biden’s
> decisive victory.*
>
> *On Wednesday, Trump’s campaign wired $3 million to election officials in
> Wisconsin to start a recount in the state’s two largest counties. His
> personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, who has taken over the president’s
> legal team, asked a federal judge to consider ordering the
> Republican-controlled legislature in Pennsylvania to select the state’s
> electors. And Trump egged on a group of GOP lawmakers in Michigan who are
> pushing for an audit of the vote there before it is certified.*
>
> *Giuliani has also told Trump and associates that his ambition is to
> pressure GOP lawmakers and officials across the political map to stall the
> vote certification in an effort to have Republican lawmakers pick electors
> and disrupt the electoral college
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/how-the-electoral-college-works/?itid=lk_inline_manual_8> when
> it convenes next month — and Trump is encouraging of that plan, according
> to two senior Republicans who have conferred with Giuliani and spoke on the
> condition of anonymity to discuss the matter candidly.*
>
> *But that outcome appears impossible. It is against the law in
> Pennsylvania, Wisconsin law gives no role to the legislature in choosing
> presidential electors, and there is little public will in other states to
> pursue such a path.’*
>
> *Behind the thin legal gambit is what several Trump advisers say is his
> real goal: sowing doubt in Biden’s victory with the president’s most ardent
> supporters and keeping alive his prospects for another presidential run in
> 2024.*
>
> *The shift in strategy comes after the president has suffered defeat after
> defeat in courtrooms around the country. And it serves as a tacit
> acknowledgment that Trump has failed to muster evidence to support his
> unfounded claims about widespread fraud.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118825&title=%E2%80%9CAs%20defeats%20pile%20up%2C%20Trump%20tries%20to%20delay%20vote%20count%20in%20last-ditch%20attempt%20to%20cast%20doubt%20on%20Biden%20victory%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in fraudulent fraud squad <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
>
>
>
>
> “The Trump campaign was not denied access to Philadelphia’s ballot count”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118823>
>
> Posted on November 19, 2020 7:03 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118823> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> WaPo Fact Checker
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/19/trump-campaign-was-not-denied-access-philadelphias-ballot-count/>
> .
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118823&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Trump%20campaign%20was%20not%20denied%20access%20to%20Philadelphia%E2%80%99s%20ballot%20count%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in fraudulent fraud squad <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
>
>
>
>
> Seriously Disturbing and Unprecedented: Trump Personally Reached Out to
> Wayne County Canvassers and Then They Attempted to Rescind Their Votes to
> Certify (After First Refusing to Certify)
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118821>
>
> Posted on November 19, 2020 6:55 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118821> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> AP:
> <https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-local-elections-arizona-michigan-29da6aac9cc41e47f3095855e7af7031>
>
> *Getting nowhere in the courts, President Donald Trump’s scattershot
> effort to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory is shifting toward
> obscure election boards that certify the vote as Trump and his allies seek
> to upend the electoral process, sow chaos and perpetuate unsubstantiated
> doubts about the count.*
>
> *The battle is centered in the battleground states that sealed Biden’s
> win.*
>
> *In Michigan, two Republican election officials in the state’s largest
> county
> <https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-michigan-elections-detroit-6ab95edd3373ecc9607381175d6f3328> initially
> refused to certify results despite no evidence of fraud, then backtracked
> and voted to certify and then on Wednesday flipped again and said they
> “remain opposed to certification.” Some Republicans have called on the GOP
> statewide canvassers to so the same. In Arizona, officials are balking at
> signing off on vote tallies in a rural county.*
>
> *The moves don’t reflect a coordinated effort across the battleground
> states that broke for Biden, local election officials said. Instead, they
> seem to be inspired by Trump’s incendiary rhetoric about baseless fraud and
> driven by Republican acquiescence to broadsides against the nation’s
> electoral system as state and federal courts push aside legal challenges
> filed by Trump and his allies.*
>
> *Still, what happened in Wayne County, Michigan, on Tuesday and Wednesday
> was a jarring reminder of the disruptions that can still be caused as the
> nation works through the process of affirming the outcome of the Nov. 3
> election.*
>
> *There is no precedent for the Trump team’s widespread effort to delay or
> undermine certification, according to University of Kentucky law professor
> Joshua Douglas.*
>
> *“It would be the end of democracy as we know it,” Douglas said. “This is
> just not a thing that can happen.”….*
>
> *In Wayne County, the two Republican canvassers at first balked at
> certifying the vote, winning praise from Trump, and then reversed course
> after widespread condemnation. A person familiar with the matter said Trump
> reached out to the canvassers, Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, on
> Tuesday evening after the revised vote to express gratitude for their
> support. Then, on Wednesday, Palmer and Hartmann signed affidavits saying
> they believe the county vote “should not be certified.”*
>
> WaPo
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/19/wayne-county-rescind-certifying-election/>
> :
>
> *After three hours of tense deadlock
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/wayne-county-election/2020/11/18/b515fa14-29c9-11eb-92b7-6ef17b3fe3b4_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_2> on
> Tuesday, the two Republicans on an election board in Michigan’s most
> populous county reversed course and voted to certify the results of the
> Nov. 3 election, a key step toward finalizing President-elect Joe Biden’s
> victory in the state.*
>
> *Now, they both want to take back their votes.*
>
> *In affidavits signed Wednesday evening, the two GOP members of the
> four-member Wayne County Board of Canvassers allege they were improperly
> pressured into certifying the election and accused Democrats of reneging on
> a promise to audit votes in Detroit.*
>
> *“I rescind my prior vote,” Monica Palmer, the board’s chairwoman, wrote
> in an affidavit reviewed by The Washington Post. “I fully believe the Wayne
> County vote should not be certified.”*
>
> *William Hartmann, the other Republican on the board, has signed a similar
> affidavit, according a person familiar with the document. Hartmann did not
> respond to a message from The Post.*
>
> *Jonathan Kinloch, a Democrat and the board’s vice chairman, told The Post
> it’s too late for the pair to reverse course, as the certified results have
> been sent to the secretary of state in accordance with state rules. He
> lashed out at the Republicans over their requests.*
>
> *“Do they understand how they are making us look as a body?” he said. “We
> have such an amazing and important role in the democratic process, and
> they’re turning it on its head.”*
>
> I am not an expert on Michigan law. I suspect that it would take a court
> order to rescind a certification, and in any case if the results were not
> certified on the county level, the state has the power to certify the
> results. We will see if this plays out on the state level as well.
>
> This is very dangerous for our democracy, as it is an attempt to thwart
> the will of the voters through political pressure from the President. Even
> though it is extremely unlikely to work, it is profoundly antidemocratic
> and a violation of the rule of law. It’s inexcuasable.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118821&title=Seriously%20Disturbing%20and%20Unprecedented%3A%20Trump%20Personally%20Reached%20Out%20to%20Wayne%20County%20Canvassers%20and%20Then%20They%20Attempted%20to%20Rescind%20Their%20Votes%20to%20Certify%20(After%20First%20Refusing%20to%20Certify)>
>
> Posted in chicanery <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, Election
> Meltdown <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>, fraudulent fraud squad
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
>
>
>
>
> “Trump campaign revises Pennsylvania suit, again”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118819>
>
> Posted on November 19, 2020 6:48 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118819> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Josh Gerstein
> <https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/18/trump-pennsylvania-election-lawsuit-437996?nname=playbook&nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&nrid=0000014e-f109-dd93-ad7f-f90d0def0000&nlid=630318> for
> Politico:
>
> *President Donald Trump’s campaign has filed yet another version of its
> lawsuit over the election results in Pennsylvania, now contending that he
> should be named the victor in the presidential contest there or that the
> state legislature be given the authority to assign the state’s 20 electoral
> votes.*
>
> *The third iteration of the suit also restores legal claims dropped in the
> second version that the campaign’s constitutional rights were violated
> because of allegedly inadequate access for observers during the processing
> of mail-in ballots.*
>
> *The new complaint
> <https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.pamd.127057/gov.uscourts.pamd.127057.172.3_1.pdf> claims
> 1.5 million mail-in or absentee votes in seven Pennsylvania counties
> “should not have been counted” and that the disputed votes resulted “in
> returns indicating Biden won Pennsylvania.”*
>
> *The new pleading also continues to pursue an unusual tack for
> Republicans: invoking international standards to assess the legitimacy of
> U.S. election procedures. Trump campaign lawyers also leveled bitter
> criticism at a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision Tuesday that found, by a
> vote of 5-2, that access for election observers was adequate even if they
> could not see the details of individual ballots.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118819&title=%E2%80%9CTrump%20campaign%20revises%20Pennsylvania%20suit%2C%20again%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in fraudulent fraud squad <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
>
>
>
>
> “Threats and Tensions Rise as Trump and Allies Attack Elections Process”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118817>
>
> Posted on November 19, 2020 6:46 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118817> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> NYT: <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/us/politics/trump-election.html>
>
> *President Trump’s false accusations that voter fraud denied him
> re-election are causing escalating confrontations in swing states across
> the country, leading to threats of violence against officials in both
> parties and subverting even the most routine steps in the electoral
> process.*
>
> *In Arizona on Wednesday, the Democratic secretary of state, Katie Hobbs,
> issued a statement lamenting the “consistent and systematic undermining of
> trust” in the elections and called on Republican officials to stop
> “perpetuating misinformation.” She described threats against her and her
> family in the aftermath of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory over Mr. Trump in
> her state.*
>
> *In Georgia, where Mr. Biden holds a narrow lead that is expected to stand
> through a recount concluding Wednesday night, Secretary of State Brad
> Raffensperger, a Republican, has said he, too, received
> <https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/georgia-secretary-of-state-dealing-with-death-threats-says-recount-tracking-towards-biden-win-in-georgia> menacing
> messages. He also said he felt pressured by Senator Lindsey Graham, a close
> Trump ally and the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to search
> for ways to disqualify votes.*
>
> *In Pennsylvania, statehouse Republicans on Wednesday advanced a proposal
> to audit the state’s election results that cited “a litany of
> inconsistencies” — a move Democrats described as obstructionist and
> unnecessary given Mr. Trump’s failure to present any evidence in court of
> widespread fraud or other problems. Republicans in Wisconsin filed new
> lawsuits on Wednesday in the state’s two biggest counties, seeking a
> recount. Mr. Biden reclaimed both states after Mr. Trump won them in 2016….*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118817&title=%E2%80%9CThreats%20and%20Tensions%20Rise%20as%20Trump%20and%20Allies%20Attack%20Elections%20Process%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in chicanery <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, Election
> Meltdown <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>, fraudulent fraud squad
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
>
>
>
>
> “Half of Republicans say Biden won because of a ‘rigged’ election:
> Reuters/Ipsos poll” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118815>
>
> Posted on November 19, 2020 6:44 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118815> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Reuters
> <https://www.yahoo.com/news/half-republicans-biden-won-because-110417008.html>
> :
>
> *About half of all Republicans believe President Donald Trump “rightfully
> won” the U.S. election but that it was stolen from him by widespread voter
> fraud that favored Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, according to a new
> Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.*
>
> *The Nov. 13-17 opinion poll showed that Trump’s open defiance of Biden’s
> victory in both the popular vote and Electoral College appears to be
> affecting the public’s confidence in American democracy, especially among
> Republicans.*
>
> *Altogether, 73% of those polled agreed that Biden won the election while
> 5% thought Trump won. But when asked specifically whether Biden had
> “rightfully won,” Republicans showed they were suspicious about how Biden’s
> victory was obtained.*
>
> *Fifty-two percent of Republicans said that Trump “rightfully won,” while
> only 29% said that Biden had rightfully won.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118815&title=%E2%80%9CHalf%20of%20Republicans%20say%20Biden%20won%20because%20of%20a%20%E2%80%98rigged%E2%80%99%20election%3A%20Reuters%2FIpsos%20poll%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “CEOs Abandon Trump” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118813>
>
> Posted on November 19, 2020 6:43 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118813> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Axios
> <https://www.axios.com/trump-biden-election-winner-ceos-chamber-of-commerce-1373b274-38c5-40e9-848c-71b85498eafb.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top>
> :
>
> *Tom Donohue — CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and longtime confidant
> of Republican presidents — tells Axios that Joe Biden is president-elect,
> and President Trump “should not delay the transition a moment longer.”…*
>
> *Business leaders** are speaking with one voice:*
>
> · National Association of Manufacturers president and CEO Jay
> Timmons, and other NAM leaders, said
> <https://www.nam.org/manufacturers-call-on-gsa-to-sign-letter-of-ascertainment-11130/?stream=series-press-releases> the
> GSA should sign the letter opening transition resources to Biden: “Further,
> we call on the Trump administration to work cooperatively with
> President-elect Biden and his team.”
>
> · JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon told
> <https://twitter.com/andrewrsorkin/status/1329067544578195458> Andrew
> Ross Sorkin at the N.Y. Times’ Dealbook conference: “We need a peaceful
> transition. We had an election. We have a new president. You should support
> that whether you like it or not because it’s based on a system of faith and
> trust.”
>
> · The Business Roundtable, representing top CEOs, on *Nov. 7 *
> congratulated
> <https://www.businessroundtable.org/business-roundtable-congratulates-president-elect-biden-vice-president-elect-harris> “President-elect
> Biden, Vice President-elect Harris.”
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118813&title=%E2%80%9CCEOs%20Abandon%20Trump%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “Trump challenges cement Biden triumph”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118811>
>
> Posted on November 19, 2020 6:40 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118811> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Axios:
> <https://www.axios.com/trump-election-challenges-loss-biden-fb42c9df-485d-4494-aeb2-6b2acadeb32a.html>
>
> *President Trump’s frantic post-election challenges are having the
> opposite effect of what he intended: He’s documenting his demise through a
> series of court fights and recounts showing Joe Biden’s victory to be all
> the more obvious and unassailable.*
>
> *Why it matters:** The president’s push to overturn the election results
> is dispelling the cloud of corruption he alleged by forcing states to
> create a verified — and legally binding — accounting of his election loss.*
>
> · “Each loss further cements Biden’s win,” says election law
> expert Richard Hasen.
>
> · “History shows that any leader who constructs a major myth,
> that is later shown to be false, will eventually fall,” says Harvard
> science historian and “Merchants of Doubt” author
> <https://www.amazon.com/Merchants-Doubt-Handful-Scientists-Obscured/dp/1608193942> Naomi
> Oreskes. “The risk is that he takes his country down with him.”
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118811&title=%E2%80%9CTrump%20challenges%20cement%20Biden%20triumph%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “Could GOP states ignore voters and send Trump delegates to the Electoral
> College? It’s unlikely. Here’s how the byzantine body really works.”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118809>
>
> Posted on November 19, 2020 6:39 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118809> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Zach Montellaro
> <https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/19/how-electoral-college-works-437749> for
> Politico.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118809&title=%E2%80%9CCould%20GOP%20states%20ignore%20voters%20and%20send%20Trump%20delegates%20to%20the%20Electoral%20College%3F%20It%E2%80%99s%20unlikely.%20Here%E2%80%99s%20how%20the%20byzantine%20body%20really%20works.%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in electoral college <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>
>
>
>
>
> “The Cities Central to Fraud Conspiracy Theories Didn’t Cost Trump the
> Election; Yet Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Detroit have become the targets
> of G.O.P. allegations of voting shenanigans.”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118807>
>
> Posted on November 18, 2020 7:16 pm
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118807> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> NYT reports.
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/16/upshot/election-fraud-trump-cities.html?smid=em-share>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118807&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Cities%20Central%20to%20Fraud%20Conspiracy%20Theories%20Didn%E2%80%99t%20Cost%20Trump%20the%20Election%3B%20Yet%20Philadelphia%2C%20Milwaukee%20and%20Detroit%20have%20become%20the%20targets%20of%20G.O.P.%20allegations%20of%20voting%20shenanigans.%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> The Political Dysfunctions That Threaten the Administrative State
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118804>
>
> Posted on November 18, 2020 6:29 pm
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118804> by *Richard Pildes*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>
>
> The 2020 ABA Conference on Administrative Law started today. Lots of great
> panels and speakers. I’m on a panel this Thursday at 1.00 pm with the title
> above. Here’s the lineup —
>
> *Speakers*
>
> • Richard J. Pierce, Jr., Lyle T. Alverson Professor of Law, George
> Washington University School of Law, Washington, DC
>
> • Anne Joseph O’Connell, Adelbert H. Sweet Professor of Law, Stanford
> University School of Law, Stanford, CA
>
> • William A. Galston, Ezra K. Zilkha Chair, Governance Studies, The
> Brookings Institution, Washington, DC
>
> • Richard H. Pildes, Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law, NYU
> School of Law, New York, NY
>
> *Moderator*
>
> • Daniel M. Flores, is Senior Counsel–Republican, House Committee on
> Oversight and Reform. Washington, DC
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118804&title=The%20Political%20Dysfunctions%20That%20Threaten%20the%20Administrative%20State>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “Toomey says he doesn’t think much of Trump’s efforts to throw out around
> 700K votes in Pa.” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118802>
>
> Posted on November 18, 2020 4:47 pm
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118802> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> NJ
> <https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/elections/2020/11/toomey-says-he-doesnt-think-much-of-trumps-efforts-to-throw-out-around-700k-votes-in-pa.html>
> :
>
> *U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey <http://lehighvalleylive.com/topic/pat%20toomey> on
> Wednesday put some distance between himself and President Donald Trump’s
> efforts to throw out hundreds of thousands of votes
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/giuliani-pennsylvania-court-appearance/2020/11/18/ad7288dc-2941-11eb-92b7-6ef17b3fe3b4_story.html> cast
> in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, trying to flip a state carried by Joe
> Biden.*
>
> *Asked at the U.S. Capitol about the legal arguments by Trump lawyer Rudy
> Giuliani, Toomey, R-Pa, said simply: “Let me just say, I don’t think they
> have a strong case.”*
>
> *The suit before U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann seeks to invalidate
> around 700,000 votes on the grounds that Republican poll watchers could not
> watch them being counted. But the Trump campaign earlier dropped those
> charges
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-lawsuit-pennsylvania/2020/11/15/4aab8048-279b-11eb-9b14-ad872157ebc9_story.html> from
> its court case.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118802&title=%E2%80%9CToomey%20says%20he%20doesn%E2%80%99t%20think%20much%20of%20Trump%E2%80%99s%20efforts%20to%20throw%20out%20around%20700K%20votes%20in%20Pa.%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> I Spoke To CNN’s John King and Kaitlan Collins About Trump’s Latest
> Election Litigation Maneuvers and the Threat to Democratic Legitimacy
> (Video) <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118800>
>
> Posted on November 18, 2020 11:26 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118800> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Watch here <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbgU6vbCqCU&feature=youtu.be>:
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118800&title=I%20Spoke%20To%20CNN%E2%80%99s%20John%20King%20and%20Kaitlan%20Collins%20About%20Trump%E2%80%99s%20Latest%20Election%20Litigation%20Maneuvers%20and%20the%20Threat%20to%20Democratic%20Legitimacy%20(Video)>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “Trump’s Firehose of Falsehood” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118798>
>
> Posted on November 18, 2020 10:52 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118798> by *Richard Pildes*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>
>
> From Jonathan Rauch
> <https://www.persuasion.community/p/trumps-firehose-of-falsehood>:
>
> *Unfortunately, a more sinister interpretation better fits the facts. What
> Trump and his supporters are up to should be thought of not as a litigation
> campaign that is likely to fail, but as an information-warfare campaign
> that is likely to succeed—and, indeed, is succeeding already. More
> specifically, they are employing a tactic called “the firehose of
> falsehood.” This information-warfare technique, according to researchers at
> the RAND Corporation <https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.html>,
> is marked by “high numbers of channels and messages and a shameless
> willingness to disseminate partial truths or outright fictions.”…*
>
> *Unlike more traditional forms of propaganda, the firehose of falsehood
> does not aim primarily at persuading the public of something that is false
> (although this is a welcome result). Rather, it floods the information
> environment with so many lies, half-truths and theories that the public
> becomes disoriented, confused and distrustful of everyone.*
>
> *While the bulk of firehose claims are false or misleading, even mutually
> contradictory, a skilled propagandist may salt the mix with statements that
> are partly valid, lending apparent plausibility to the rest. The
> bewildering panoply of true and false, rumor and conspiracy, lawsuits and
> countersuits, all work toward the main objectives: to undermine legitimate
> authorities, polarize and fracture society, and open the door to cynicism
> and demagoguery.*
>
> *Trump has often been dismissed as a would-be authoritarian whose saving
> grace is his incompetence. That may be true in some respects, but at
> disinformation he is ambitious and skilled. As of Election Day, he had
> made around 25,000
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/10/22/president-trump-is-averaging-more-than-50-false-or-misleading-claims-day/> false
> and misleading claims. Amid the hailstorm of confusion and contradiction,
> it was little wonder that Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) parroted Kremlin
> disinformation about whether Russian operatives had hacked and released
> Democratic emails before the 2016 election. “I don’t know, nor do you, nor
> do any of us,” he said
> <https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/gop-senator-i-don-t-know-if-ukraine-or-russia-n1090246>.*
>
> *I don’t know, nor do you, nor do any of us**: That is the outcome Trump
> and his minions are playing for. Their latest campaign is the most
> audacious. It began months ago, with Trump’s drumbeat of false attacks on
> mail voting, quickly echoed by conservative media. That narrative of
> impending fraud set up the current campaign. Whereas most ordinary
> Americans view the courts, politics and the media as separate spheres,
> Trump understands them all as information battlegrounds—avenues of
> influence to the central goal of casting doubt.*
>
> *Trump’s strategy is sophisticated, even if his style is not. As a
> profligate and frequently unsuccessful litigant
> <https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/01/donald-trump-lawsuits-legal-battles/84995854/>,
> he almost certainly knows that his lawsuits will not reverse the election.
> To succeed, however, he must merely reach two attainable goals: convince
> Republicans that the election was not free and fair (as 70 percent of them
> already believe, according to a recent Politico/Morning Consult poll
> <https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/09/republicans-free-fair-elections-435488>);
> and convince much of the rest of the public that the election result is in
> doubt, and can never be known for sure. Those outcomes will frustrate and
> distract Democrats, outrage and mobilize Republicans, and—most important
> from Trump’s point of view—position him to remain agitator-in-chief after
> he leaves office.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118798&title=%E2%80%9CTrump%E2%80%99s%20Firehose%20of%20Falsehood%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “Why geography makes it difficult for Democrats to get along”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118793>
>
> Posted on November 18, 2020 10:14 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118793> by *Richard Pildes*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>
>
> In light of the post-election debates raging in the Democratic Party
> between moderates and progressives over how to position the party for
> future elections, I thought it was worth re-upping this Washington Post
> essay
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-geography-makes-it-difficult-for-democrats-to-get-along/2018/10/22/afe7d4d0-cd6f-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html> that
> Jonathan Rodden and I wrote in the run-up to the 2018 midterms. The issues
> remain the same:
>
> *Democrats have engaged in a passionate debate leading into the midterms
> on Nov 6. “Progressives” argue that the path to victory this year and
> beyond lies in motivating their youthful urban base by moving the party to
> the left. “Pragmatic” centrists, on the other hand, argue that victory
> requires ideological moderation that will attract independents.*
>
> *Paradoxically, both sides might be right, which is why this tension is
> unavoidable and likely to endure. To understand this, we must grasp how
> electoral geography shapes politics. President Trump won 230 congressional
> districts to Hillary Clinton’s 205
> <https://www.forbes.com/sites/billwhalen/2018/08/12/go-ahead-and-the-change-the-electoral-college-but-theres-still-a-trump-presidency/#64c4289b14ca>,
> even though she outpolled him by more than 3 million votes nationwide. This
> reflects, in part, the fact that progressive voters are increasingly
> concentrated in the areas that make up urban congressional and state
> legislative districts, while moderates and conservatives are more evenly
> dispersed in exurban and rural districts.*
>
> *Democrats have engaged in a passionate debate leading into the midterms
> on Nov 6. “Progressives” argue that the path to victory this year and
> beyond lies in motivating their youthful urban base by moving the party to
> the left. “Pragmatic” centrists, on the other hand, argue that victory
> requires ideological moderation that will attract independents.*
>
> *Paradoxically, both sides might be right, which is why this tension is
> unavoidable and likely to endure. To understand this, we must grasp how
> electoral geography shapes politics. President Trump won 230 congressional
> districts to Hillary Clinton’s 205
> <https://www.forbes.com/sites/billwhalen/2018/08/12/go-ahead-and-the-change-the-electoral-college-but-theres-still-a-trump-presidency/#64c4289b14ca>,
> even though she outpolled him by more than 3 million votes nationwide. This
> reflects, in part, the fact that progressive voters are increasingly
> concentrated in the areas that make up urban congressional and state
> legislative districts, while moderates and conservatives are more evenly
> dispersed in exurban and rural districts….*
>
> *To win control of Congress and state legislatures, Democrats mustcapture
> relatively conservative districts that support Republicans in presidential
> elections. Structurally, this is nothing new. Democrats have been
> relatively concentrated in urban districts since the New Deal, and for
> decades, their geography made it necessary for them to field congressional
> candidates who could win on “Republican” turf in the suburbs and
> countryside..*
>
> Whatever the outcome this fall, the Democrats’ basic geography problem is
> likely to endure. To maintain control of the House or state legislatures
> beyond the isolated wave election, self-styled exurban and rural Democrats
> will feel the pressure to craft local brands that distance themselves from
> their party’s liberal reputation, even if that reputation serves the party
> well in winning the national or statewide popular vote.
> * Political geography — not just ideological conflict on its own — thus
> makes it likely that tensions between the progressive and centrist wings of
> the Democratic Party will endure.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118793&title=%E2%80%9CWhy%20geography%20makes%20it%20difficult%20for%20Democrats%20to%20get%20along%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “The Nation’s Top Election Official Has Overdosed on the Trump Kool-Aid”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118795>
>
> Posted on November 18, 2020 10:14 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118795> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Lachlan Markay for the Daily Beast:
> <https://www.thedailybeast.com/trey-trainor-the-nations-top-election-official-has-overdosed-on-the-trump-kool-aid>
>
> *The good news is that the nation’s top campaign finance watchdog may soon
> be functional again. The bad news is that its current chairman has gone off
> the rails.*
>
> *Trey Trainor may not be a household name. But as head of the Federal
> Election Commission, he has oversight of the campaign finance system that
> underpins federal elections
> <https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-new-election-law-pitbull-goes-to-war-with-transparency-groups>.
> And in recent days, he’s been floating baseless election fraud conspiracy
> theories sourced entirely to a Trump attorney who believes the Fed is out
> to tank the American economy in order to enrich George Soros.*
>
> *“I do believe that there is voter fraud taking place” in key states in
> the 2020 presidential election, Trainor told the conservative outlet
> Newsmax last week. The allegations were quickly seized upon by the
> president’s allies, including his son Donald Trump Jr., in their efforts to
> overturn the results of an election that experts both in and out of the
> federal government have said was remarkably secure and reliable.*
>
> *Such proclamations carry a bit of extra weight when coming from the chair
> of the FEC. But Trainor’s sole source for it appears to be the word
> of Sidney Powell, a right-wing attorney who’s representing the Trump
> campaign
> <https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-anchor-seemingly-buys-into-trumps-dominion-conspiracy> in
> its efforts to block the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s
> election victory.*
>
> *“If she says there is rampant voter fraud… I believe her,” Trainor wrote
> of Powell, who has alleged
> <https://twitter.com/SidneyPowell1/status/1076375896414715904> that U.S.
> monetary policy is in hock to Soros and amplified
> <https://twitter.com/AlKapDC/status/1138907835415367682>“QAnon” conspiracy
> theorists.*
>
> *Campaign finance experts recoiled at Trainor’s apparent embrace of the
> dubious allegations. “My biggest concern with Commissioner Trainor is his
> partisanship, and to the extent that overlaps with the conspiracy
> theorizing about election fraud, that’s a concern,” said Paul Seamus Ryan,
> the vice president of litigation with the group Common Cause, in an
> interview on Tuesday.*
>
> *But the comments were just the latest in a recent shift at the FEC,
> spearheaded by both Republican and Democratic commissioners, to expand its
> role to some degree beyond the commission’s traditional campaign finance
> enforcement mandate. Fueled by concerns over foreign election interference
> in 2016 and spurious voter fraud charges this year, the nation’s chief
> political money enforcer appears to be eyeing an expanded policy purview,
> even as the commission he served on has been prevented by internal
> dysfunction and a critical staff shortage from carrying out its most basic
> functions.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118795&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Nation%E2%80%99s%20Top%20Election%20Official%20Has%20Overdosed%20on%20the%20Trump%20Kool-Aid%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in federal election commission
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>, fraudulent fraud squad
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
>
>
>
>
> “The Trump campaign says it will request a partial recount in Wisconsin,
> focused on major cities.” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118790>
>
> Posted on November 18, 2020 9:46 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118790> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> NYT:
> <https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/18/us/joe-biden-trump-updates#the-trump-campaign-says-it-will-request-a-partial-recount-in-wisconsin-focused-on-major-cities>
>
> *President Trump’s campaign said it would request a recount of votes in
> Wisconsin’s two largest and most Democratic counties, the latest effort to
> reverse the result of an election Mr. Trump lost to President-elect Joseph
> R. Biden Jr.*
>
> *The Trump campaign said it would file a petition with the Wisconsin
> Elections Commission to recount results in Milwaukee County and Dane
> County, which includes Madison and the flagship campus of the University of
> Wisconsin. The commission on Wednesday morning said in a tweet that it had
> received a $3 million wire transfer
> <https://twitter.com/WI_Elections/status/1329091035792695296?s=20> from the
> campaign but no petition.*
>
> *State law requires a recount petition to be filed by 6 p.m. Eastern time
> Wednesday to prompt a recount.*
>
> *The commission on Monday said it would cost $7.9 million to conduct a
> statewide recount
> <https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/16/us/joe-biden-trump#trump-has-until-wednesday-to-request-a-recount-in-wisconsin-itll-cost-him-7-9-million>of
> the presidential contest, which Mr. Biden won by 20,608 votes out of 3.2
> million cast. The estimate for recounting the race in Milwaukee County was
> $2.04 million, and $740,808 for Dane County.*
>
> *A statewide recount following the 2016 election added 131 votes to Mr.
> Trump’s margin of victory
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/us/stein-ends-recount-bid-but-says-it-revealed-flaws-in-voting-system.html> over
> Hillary Clinton.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118790&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Trump%20campaign%20says%20it%20will%20request%20a%20partial%20recount%20in%20Wisconsin%2C%20focused%20on%20major%20cities.%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “Republican officials face outcry after refusing to certify Detroit vote:
> ‘You could see the racism.’” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118788>
>
> Posted on November 18, 2020 9:43 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118788> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> NYT
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/us/politics/republican-officials-face-outcry-after-refusing-to-certify-detroit-vote-you-could-see-the-racism.html>
> :
>
> * Mayor Mike Duggan on Wednesday accused President Trump’s allies in
> Michigan’s most populous county of racism after they threatened to block
> certification of the election over slight discrepancies in majority-Black
> precincts — while ignoring similar problems in heavily white areas.*
>
> *On Tuesday night, Republican election board members in Wayne County,
> which contains Detroit and its inner suburbs, refused to certify the
> county’s election results in a nakedly partisan effort to hold up
> President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory over Mr. Trump — only
> to reverse themselves after outcry
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/us/politics/michigan-certify-election-results.html> from
> state officials and Detroit residents who accused them of trying to steal
> their votes and criticized the move as racist.*
>
> *“You could see the racism in the behavior last night,” Mr. Duggan said at
> a news conference Wednesday. “American democracy cracked last night, but it
> didn’t break. But we are seeing a real threat to everything we believe in.”*
>
> *Rev. Wendell Anthony, the head of Detroit’s NAACP chapter, said the Trump
> campaign’s attempts to discredit the election in cities with large Black
> populations like Detroit, Philadelphia and Atlanta is part of a racist
> pattern intended to stoke divisions and undermine core democratic
> institutions.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118788&title=%E2%80%9CRepublican%20officials%20face%20outcry%20after%20refusing%20to%20certify%20Detroit%20vote%3A%20%E2%80%98You%20could%20see%20the%20racism.%E2%80%99%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> Public Commenters Show Outrage Over (Later Reversed) Refusal of
> Republicans on Wayne County Canvassing Board to Accept Election Results
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118786>
>
> Posted on November 18, 2020 9:37 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118786> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Watch <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vXPZ3PU_9A>:
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118786&title=Public%20Commenters%20Show%20Outrage%20Over%20(Later%20Reversed)%20Refusal%20of%20Republicans%20on%20Wayne%20County%20Canvassing%20Board%20to%20Accept%20Election%20Results>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> Rudy’s Stupid Certification Endgame
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118783>
>
> Posted on November 18, 2020 6:37 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118783> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Hasen <https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1328925096564584449?s=20> on
> Costa on Giuiliani:
>
> Let me spell this out a bit more. The rules under the Electoral Count Act
> are complicated and some are not clear, but this much is clear: you don’t
> go to a contingent election (where each state delegation gets only one
> vote) unless no candidate gets a majority. That won’t happen if a state
> sends in two slates of electors: one through the normal process as
> certified by the governor and one from some rogue state legislature. In
> that circumstance, the ECA provides that the governor’s slate of electors
> prevails. In Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, there are Democratic
> governors. Those governors would send in slates that would prevail.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118783&title=Rudy%E2%80%99s%20Stupid%20Certification%20Endgame>
>
> Posted in fraudulent fraud squad <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
>
>
>
>
> “Trump’s effort to overturn the election results may be inept. But it’s
> still a scandal.” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118781>
>
> Posted on November 18, 2020 6:33 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118781> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> NBC First Read
> <https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/trump-s-effort-overturn-election-results-may-be-inept-it-n1248096>
> :
>
> *Forget Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Or Trump’s impeachment
> for asking Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden.*
>
> *Arguably the biggest political scandal we’ve ever seen in this country is
> playing right before our eyes: President Trump and his allies are trying to
> reverse the election results of a contest he lost.*
>
> *It doesn’t look like the scheme is going to work. The Wayne County
> (Detroit) Board of Canvassers last night certified its election results
> <https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2020/11/17/wayne-county-election-certification/6309668002/> after
> its two Republican members initially withheld support. (Biden won Wayne
> County, 68 percent to 31 percent, and the state of Michigan by 148,000
> votes.)*
>
> *But being unsuccessful doesn’t erase the magnitude of the scandal — or
> the fact that the president of the United States has cheered it on every
> step of the way.*
>
> *Consider the last 24 hours:*
>
> · The two Republican members of Wayne County’s canvassing board
> voted against certifying its election results before reversing course, and
> Trump praised the action
> <https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1328883405837258753>: “Wow!
> Michigan just refused to certify the election results! Having courage is a
> beautiful thing. The USA stands proud!”
>
> · In Nevada — a state Trump lost by 2.4 percentage points — the
> president’s campaign team filed a lawsuit
> <https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/trump-campaign-files-lawsuit-asking-judge-to-overturn-or-annul-nevadas-presidential-election-results> asking
> a judge to either declare Trump the winner or to reject the state’s
> election results.
>
> · In Pennsylvania — which Biden won by more than 82,000 votes —
> Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani was in court asking a judge
> <https://www.inquirer.com/news/trump-pennsylvania-lawsuit-election-results-rudy-giuliani-hearing-case-williamsport-20201117.html> to
> overturn the state’s results. (“At bottom, you’re asking this court to
> invalidate some 6.8 million votes thereby disenfranchising every single
> voter in the commonwealth,” the judge said.)
>
> · And to top it off, the president on Tuesday fired
> <https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/trump-fires-head-u-s-election-cybersecurity-after-he-debunked-n1248063> the
> federal government’s head of cybersecurity, who had debunked many of the
> conspiracy theories that Trump’s team had been promoting.
>
> *Bottom line: Trump’s efforts to overturn the election have stumbled and
> gained no significant traction yet. But it’s still disturbing to watch,
> especially with so many elected Republicans staying silent.*
>
> *And it provides a road map for someone else to do it better next time.*
>
> *That said, we’re going to find out at 6:00 p.m. ET if Trump is going to
> put his money where his mouth is — that is, pay the required $7.9 million
> for Wisconsin’s recount by today’s state deadline.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118781&title=%E2%80%9CTrump%E2%80%99s%20effort%20to%20overturn%20the%20election%20results%20may%20be%20inept.%20But%20it%E2%80%99s%20still%20a%20scandal.%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in fraudulent fraud squad <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
>
>
>
>
> Pam Fessler: “Led By Giuliani, Trump Campaign Effort To Stop Certification
> Falters In Pennsylvania” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118779>
>
> Posted on November 18, 2020 6:30 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118779> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> NPR:
> <https://www.npr.org/2020/11/17/936027693/led-by-giuliani-trump-campaign-effort-to-stop-certification-falters-in-pennsylva>
>
> *Things did not go well Tuesday for the Trump campaign’s effort to stop
> certification of the Pennsylvania vote count — which has Joe Biden ahead by
> more than 73,000 votes.*
>
> *At almost the same time the president’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was in
> federal court in Williamsport, Pa., complaining that Republican observers
> were illegally denied access to vote counting in Philadelphia and other
> Democratic areas, the state Supreme Court in Harrisburg concluded
> otherwise. By a 5-2 vote, it ruled that Philadelphia election officials had
> acted properly in their handling of the observation process.*
>
> *The Trump campaign had argued that GOP representatives were kept too far
> away to see whether there were any irregularities, but the court said they
> were able to view election workers “performing their duties,” as required.*
>
> *It was a major loss for the president and his campaign’s flailing effort
> to overturn the election results. Republicans have filed suits in several
> states seeking to invalidate thousands of votes, but have lost almost every
> case so far….*
>
> *The president’s lawyer also alleged, without providing any evidence, that
> voting in Pennsylvania was riddled with fraud. He said it was “not an
> isolated case” either, but part of “widespread national voter fraud”
> involving other jurisdictions, including Detroit and Milwaukee. However,
> Giuliani later admitted to the judge that the Pennsylvania lawsuit was “not
> a fraud case.”*
>
> *The judge gave the parties several days to file additional briefs and
> motions before he makes a decision on whether to dismiss the case.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D118779&title=Pam%20Fessler%3A%20%E2%80%9CLed%20By%20Giuliani%2C%20Trump%20Campaign%20Effort%20To%20Stop%20Certification%20Falters%20In%20Pennsylvania%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in fraudulent fraud squad <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Rick Hasen
>
> Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
>
> UC Irvine School of Law
>
> 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
>
> Irvine, CA 92697-8000
>
> 949.824.3072 - office
>
> rhasen at law.uci.edu
>
> http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
>
> http://electionlawblog.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
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--
David Schultz, Distinguished University Professor
Hamline University
Department of Political Science and
Department of Legal Studies
1536 Hewitt Ave
MS B 1805
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http://davidschultz.efoliomn.com/
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Twitter: @ProfDSchultz
My latest book: Presidential Swing States: Why Only Ten Matter
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739195246/Presidential-Swing-States-Why-Only-Ten-Matter
FacultyRow SuperProfessor, 2012, 2013, 2014
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