US bipartisanship prepares for long legal battle over 2024 election results
Báo Tin Tức•21/10/2024
Although partisan battles over voting laws have long been a part of presidential campaigns, election litigation has skyrocketed in recent years.
Former US President Donald Trump (center, front row) at a trial in Manhattan District Court, New York, US, October 2, 2023. Photo: USA TODAY/TTXVN
At a campaign event in Georgia, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump — who has refused to accept that he lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden — said he wants a victory on Election Day that is so overwhelming that “it can’t be cheated.” Regardless of how big the margin of victory is, Republicans and Democrats are bracing for a potentially lengthy legal battle over the election results once they are announced. Dozens of lawsuits could set the stage for challenges after the vote count has taken place. Historically, the lawsuits have been filed largely by Republicans and their allies. Many of the lawsuits involve mail-in ballots, overseas ballots and non-citizen voting claims. While former President Trump has repeatedly refused to explicitly say he will accept this year's results, Democrats have also warned that they may refuse to certify the results and push for litigation. While partisan battles over voting laws have long been a part of presidential campaigns, election litigation has skyrocketed in recent years. "It's not even just the parties — it's outside organizations, and they're raising money to defend democracy, defend the integrity of the election, whatever it is. They have wealthy donors who are backing this litigation. So it doesn't look like there's going to be any let-up in the calendar going forward," said Derek Muller, an election law expert and professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School. With just over two weeks to go until Election Day, about 180 voting and election lawsuits have been filed this year, according to Democratic attorney Marc Elias, founder of the election litigation watchdog group Democracy Docket. The rate of election-related lawsuits has nearly tripled since 2000, when the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to decide the election in favor of Republican George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore. The high court’s role in the race has fueled interest in election law, fueling a surge in litigation that accelerated in 2020 due to changes to voting rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. Changes to campaign finance rules a decade ago also allowed donors to provide parties with huge sums of cash dedicated to legal battles. Election litigation today is not always about winning in court, but also about sending a political message to galvanize donors. “It has become part of the campaign to present itself in court,” said Rebecca Green, a professor at William & Mary Law School and an expert on election law. “Campaigns bring lawsuits that attract attention and make a lot of sense in the media.”
Earlier this year, the Republican National Committee (RNC) launched an “unprecedented” election integrity program, planning to deploy 100,000 volunteers and attorneys in key battleground states as part of a “commitment to ensuring transparency and fairness in the 2024 election.” Candidate Trump’s election integrity effort is aimed at protecting every legal vote, minimizing threats to the voting process, and protecting the election. “As Democrats continue to interfere in the election for President Trump and the American people, our operation is confronting their machinations and preparing for November,” said Claire Zunk, the RNC’s director of election integrity communications. The most important court battle may be over vote certification rules. There is a new, faster review process for certification disputes under updates to the Vote Count Reform Act passed by Congress in 2022. Last week in Georgia, a judge declared seven new election rules recently passed by the State Board of Elections “unlawful, unconstitutional and void.” Among them is one that requires ballots to be manually counted after polls close. Another requires county officials to conduct a “reasonable investigation” before certifying results, but it does not spell out what that means. Republicans have appealed the decision. The judge's decision to invalidate the regulations went to the state's supreme court. RNC Chairman Michael Whatley called the ruling "judicial action of the worst kind." "By overturning the Georgia State Board of Elections' reasonable regulations that were passed to protect Georgia's elections, the judge has sided with Democrats in their attacks on the transparency, accountability, and integrity of our elections. We will not let this happen."
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