The 2020 Presidential Election Lawsuits
5 Suits and None Alleging Fraud Despite the President’s Tweets
How Electing the U.S. President Works
Every four years in the United States those eligible may vote for one presidential candidate. However, it is the states and the District of Columbia that decide who the presidential elect is going to be. Electing the President starts with an eligible person casting their ballot in their home state. Then, all votes in that state are counted and the candidate with the most votes becomes the candidate that state supports for President. Each state must select one candidate.
However, each state’s influence in the election is different. California, for example, has a population of roughly 40 million as compared to Massachusetts which has a population of roughly 7 million. Influence is determined by the number of districts in a state. The more people that live in a state, then the more districts there are. The more districts a state has, then the more electors — which is comprised of the number of districts plus the number of senators (each state has two).
When a candidate wins in a state, the candidate wins that state’s number of electors. Hence why large and highly populated states are important. There are 538 elligible electors in the United States, and for a candidate to become the presidential-elect they need to win the majority of those electors — 270.
How COVID-19 Has Altered the Election Process
The deadline for eligible citizens to cast their ballot is typically on Election Day when the polls close. This process has been managed by states and the District of Columbia for over 200 years. Citizens are permitted to vote in person or by absentee ballot. Prior to COVID-19, those who wanted to vote by mail or absentee ballot had to provide an excuse as to why they cannot vote in person on Election Day. Depending on the state, absentee ballots can be given to people in the military, the elderly, college students, or those incarcerated who still have their right to vote.
For the 2020 general election, at least 30 states and the District of Columbia made changes to allow citizens to securely cast their ballots from home. For example, producing a valid excuse to vote by absentee and creating ballot drop boxes in several counties across the country. Some states were proactive and sent voters absentee without them having to make a request. As a result, an overwhelming amount of citizens have securely voted by mail.
Additionally, states and the District of Columbia have set their own rules as to when and how they plan to accept ballots. 18 states have postmark by date laws. In other words, these 18 states have accepted ballots so long as they were postmarked on or before Election Day and make it to election officials by that state’s deadline. These rules have led to several lawsuits from the Trump Administration.
The Lawsuits
So far the Trump Administration has brought 5 lawsuits since Election Day. Despite the President’s statements of voter fraud as an attempt to challenge the credibility of America’s democracy, none of the 5 suits allege voter fraud.
Voter Fraud is not a viable claim which is probably why it has not made its way into the GOP’s court papers. The majority of states are counting mail in ballots the same way they have for decades and are prepared to defend against all frivolous suits challenging their system. Historically, the risk of voting by mail fraud has shown to be extremely rare. Based on studies from past elections, the Brennan Center for Justice estimates the risk of fraud between 0.00004% to 0.0009%. Therefore, evidence suggesting fraud is not significant enough to manipulate or “rig” an election.
In Nevada the Trump Administrated filed a suit on November 3rd stating that the method used to verify mail in ballots lacked proper human observation. A judge rejected the case finding that the allegations “lacked evidentiary support, and their request for relief was not supported.”
In Michigan Judge Stephens found that there is no likelihood of success on the merits for the Administration’s suit against Michigan’s Secretary of State seeking more access to watch the ballot processing for counting votes.
In Georgia the Administration asked a Judge to force election officials not to count any ballots received by mail after 7 p.m. on Election Day. The judge dismissed the case finding that the ballots in question arrived on time.
In Pennsylvania the Administration filed a suit seeking to stop Pennsylvania to stop counting ballots that arrived after Election Day, even if they were postmarked by Election Day. The court found that ballots received by mail up to 3 days after Election Day may be counted.
Your individual vote matters. It matters in helping your state determine which candidate it will support. Your state’s support will help one of the candidates earn electors, and whoever earns 270 electors will become the U.S. Presidential-Elect. States have been perfectly capable of managing their own election processes for over 244 years. COVID-19 has altered the process slightly, but it has not changed the integrity of the system. States should continue to count so long as there are legitimate votes to be counted.
