US Election Week 2020

[grumbler]

On a totally different note, what ever happened to the millions of people who were going to be suppressed by voter ID laws?

Either the efforts didn't work, or they worked but didn't matter enough to change the outcome.  What "millions of people" are we talking about?  One-third of eligible voters didn't vote, but how many didn't vote because of ID laws?

[The Minsky Moment]

So here is how things stand on Trump's PA suit.

Complaint was filed October 9, alleging widespread "irregularities" and seeking to enjoin certification of the entire state vote.
The following day, October 10, the court held a scheduling conference - and scheduled oral argument on a motion to dismiss for Oct 17 and an evidentiary hearing on the proposed injunction on Oct. 19

On Oct. 12, Penn files its motion to dismiss.  A few hours later, Trump's lead counsel withdraws from the case.  that leaves a local solo practitioner as remaining counsel.

On Oct. 15 - Trumps deadline to file an opposition to the motion to dismiss - his lawyer files an amended complaint that abandons nearly the entire basis for the complaint and replaces it with a new complaint based a small number of ballots that had technical defects and where voters were permitted to fix them, in accordance with state election law as announced by the PA Supreme Court. Of course, even if this was wrong (it isn't) there is nowhere near enough such ballots to affect the PA result.

Trump's lawyer then files an opposition saying the motion to dismiss the case is now moot because there is a new complaint.

The same day, the state files a new motion to dismiss the new complaint.

The next day - Oct 16 - Trump's remaining lawyer also withdraws from the case. While withdrawing she says new counsel is coming in who is aware of the existing schedule and will keep to i.

A new lawyer enters an appearance for Trump and - at 7:40 PM - requests a postponement of the following day's hearing. Which is promptly denied.

Hint: not a good sign when both sets of lawyers bringing a case withdraw within a week of filing.

[Solmyr]

[Razgovory]

So here is how things stand on Trump's PA suit.

Complaint was filed October 9, alleging widespread "irregularities" and seeking to enjoin certification of the entire state vote.
The following day, October 10, the court held a scheduling conference - and scheduled oral argument on a motion to dismiss for Oct 17 and an evidentiary hearing on the proposed injunction on Oct. 19

On Oct. 12, Penn files its motion to dismiss.  A few hours later, Trump's lead counsel withdraws from the case.  that leaves a local solo practitioner as remaining counsel.

On Oct. 15 - Trumps deadline to file an opposition to the motion to dismiss - his lawyer files an amended complaint that abandons nearly the entire basis for the complaint and replaces it with a new complaint based a small number of ballots that had technical defects and where voters were permitted to fix them, in accordance with state election law as announced by the PA Supreme Court. Of course, even if this was wrong (it isn't) there is nowhere near enough such ballots to affect the PA result.

Trump's lawyer then files an opposition saying the motion to dismiss the case is now moot because there is a new complaint.

The same day, the state files a new motion to dismiss the new complaint.

The next day - Oct 16 - Trump's remaining lawyer also withdraws from the case. While withdrawing she says new counsel is coming in who is aware of the existing schedule and will keep to i.

A new lawyer enters an appearance for Trump and - at 7:40 PM - requests a postponement of the following day's hearing. Which is promptly denied.

Hint: not a good sign when both sets of lawyers bringing a case withdraw within a week of filing.

Are you sure it's October and not November?

[Rex Francorum]

[viper37]

hey!  ça prenait les élections américaines pour ramener les portés disparus!

The american elections were needed to bring back so many ancients!

[The Minsky Moment]

So here is how things stand on Trump's PA suit.

Complaint was filed October 9, alleging widespread "irregularities" and seeking to enjoin certification of the entire state vote.
The following day, October 10, the court held a scheduling conference - and scheduled oral argument on a motion to dismiss for Oct 17 and an evidentiary hearing on the proposed injunction on Oct. 19

On Oct. 12, Penn files its motion to dismiss.  A few hours later, Trump's lead counsel withdraws from the case.  that leaves a local solo practitioner as remaining counsel.

On Oct. 15 - Trumps deadline to file an opposition to the motion to dismiss - his lawyer files an amended complaint that abandons nearly the entire basis for the complaint and replaces it with a new complaint based a small number of ballots that had technical defects and where voters were permitted to fix them, in accordance with state election law as announced by the PA Supreme Court. Of course, even if this was wrong (it isn't) there is nowhere near enough such ballots to affect the PA result.

Trump's lawyer then files an opposition saying the motion to dismiss the case is now moot because there is a new complaint.

The same day, the state files a new motion to dismiss the new complaint.

The next day - Oct 16 - Trump's remaining lawyer also withdraws from the case. While withdrawing she says new counsel is coming in who is aware of the existing schedule and will keep to i.

A new lawyer enters an appearance for Trump and - at 7:40 PM - requests a postponement of the following day's hearing. Which is promptly denied.

Hint: not a good sign when both sets of lawyers bringing a case withdraw within a week of filing.

Are you sure it's October and not November?

Got to stop posting late night . . .

[viper37]

I would like to say I am surprised.  Well, maybe, just a little that they are so bold.  But I'm not that surprised they're trying to suppress the vote.
Ga. secretary of state says fellow Republicans are pressuring him to find ways to exclude ballots

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Monday that he has come under increasing pressure in recent days from fellow Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), who he said questioned the validity of legally cast absentee ballots, in an effort to reverse President Trump's narrow loss in the state.
Follow the latest on Election 2020

In a wide-ranging interview about the election, Raffensperger expressed exasperation over a string of baseless allegations coming from Trump and his allies about the integrity of the Georgia results, including claims that Dominion Voting Systems, the Colorado-based manufacturer of Georgia's voting machines, is a "leftist" company with ties to Venezuela that engineered thousands of Trump votes to be left out of the count.

The atmosphere has grown so contentious, Raffensperger said, that he and his wife, Tricia, have received death threats in recent days, including a text to him that read: "You better not botch this recount. Your life depends on it."

"Other than getting you angry, it's also very disillusioning," Raffensperger said of the threats, "particularly when it comes from people on my side of the aisle. Everyone that is working on this needs to elevate their speech. We need to be thoughtful and careful about what we say." He said he reported the threats to state authorities.

The pressure on Raffensperger, who has bucked his party in defending the state's voting process, comes as Georgia is in the midst of a laborious hand recount of about 5 million ballots. President-elect Joe Biden has a 14,000-vote lead in the initial count.

The normally mild-mannered Raffensperger saved his harshest language for Rep. Douglas A. Collins (R-Ga.), who is leading the president's efforts in Georgia and whom Raffensperger called a "liar" and a "charlatan."

Collins has questioned Raffensperger's handling of the vote and accused him of capitulating to Democrats by not backing allegations of voter fraud more strongly.

Raffensperger has said that every accusation of fraud will be thoroughly investigated, but that there is currently no credible evidence that fraud occurred on a broad enough scale to affect the outcome of the election.

The recount, Raffensperger said in the interview Monday, will "affirm" the results of the initial count. He said the hand-counted audit that began last week will also prove the accuracy of the Dominion machines; some counties have already reported that their hand recounts exactly match the machine tallies previously reported. Election officials in one county, Floyd, discovered about 2,600 eligible votes that were not included in the initial tallies because of a failure to upload them off a memory stick. The secretary of state's office said those votes probably would have been discovered, but it called for the resignation of the county election director.

"I'm an engineer. We look at numbers. We look at hard data," Raffensperger said. "I can't help it that a failed candidate like Collins is running around lying to everyone. He's a liar."

A spokeswoman for Collins replied to a request for comment by linking to a tweet Collins sent on Monday in which he described Raffensperger's "incompetence as Secretary of State."

Collins ran unsuccessfully for Senate this year and is blamed by some Republicans for pushing the incumbent in that race, fellow Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, into a runoff against the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat.

His fellow Republicans turned on him, but Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger isn't backing down

In the interview, Raffensperger also said he spoke on Friday to Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has echoed Trump's unfounded claims about voting irregularities.

In their conversation, Graham questioned Raffensperger about the state's signature-matching law and whether political bias could have prompted poll workers to accept ballots with nonmatching signatures, according to Raffensperger. Graham also asked whether Raffensperger had the power to toss all mail ballots in counties found to have higher rates of nonmatching signatures, Raffensperger said.

Raffensperger said he was stunned that Graham appeared to suggest that he find a way to toss legally cast ballots. Absent court intervention, Raffensperger doesn't have the power to do what Graham suggested because counties administer elections in Georgia.

"It sure looked like he was wanting to go down that road," Raffensperger said.

In an interview on Capitol Hill on Monday evening, Graham denied that he had suggested that Raffensperger toss legal ballots, calling that characterization "ridiculous."

But he said he did seek out the secretary of state to understand the state's signature-matching requirements. Graham said he contacted Raffensperger on his own and was not asked to do so by Trump.

"The main issue for me is: How do you protect the integrity of mail-in voting, and how does signature verification work?" he said.

"If he feels threatened by that conversation, he's got a problem," Graham added. "I actually thought it was a good conversation."

On the same day that Graham spoke to Raffensperger about signature matching, a lawsuit was filed in federal court in Georgia challenging the way county election officials check signatures and allow voters a chance to fix ballots with errors.

The suit, filed by Atlanta lawyer and Trump supporter Lin Wood, seeks to block certification of Georgia's election until all ballot envelopes are inspected.

Also that day, Trump tweeted about signature-matching in Georgia and criticized Raffensperger for his management of the state elections: "Georgia Secretary of State, a so-called Republican (RINO), won't let the people checking the ballots see the signatures for fraud. Why? Without this the whole process is very unfair and close to meaningless. Everyone knows that we won the state."

Raffensperger said he will vigorously fight the lawsuit, which would require the matching of ballot envelopes with ballots — potentially exposing individual voters' choices.

"It doesn't matter what political party or which campaign does that," Raffensperger said. "The secrecy of the vote is sacred."

The secretary of state also warned that the Republican attacks on Dominion voting machines could create issues for the state's Republican U.S. senators, Loeffler and David Perdue, who face runoffs on Jan. 5 that will be administered using the same Dominion machines.

Over the weekend, social media posts began appearing from Trump supporters questioning whether they feel comfortable using Dominion machines in the two runoff elections, which will determine which party controls the Senate.

"I don't think it's helpful when you create doubt in the election process," Raffensperger said. "People might throw up their arms and say, 'Why vote?' "Seung Min Kim and Paul Kane contributed to this report.

Graham is surprises his phone call was interpreted as "pressure".  Yeah right.  A US Senator has no business phoning to Georgia Secretary of State to inquire about the vote, point.  If he heard something, he can incite these people to file a complaint, help them file a complaint if needed, but not interfere like that.
I'm glad there are still Republicans with a spine able to challenge Trump.  Just too bad they ain't full time elected officials in the Federal govt.

[The Brain]

"Other than getting you angry, it's also very disillusioning," Raffensperger said of the threats, "particularly when it comes from people on my side of the aisle. Everyone that is working on this needs to elevate their speech. We need to be thoughtful and careful about what we say." He said he reported the threats to state authorities.

Time to leave that side of the aisle? Just a thought.

[Valmy]

I mean I know it is narrow for the total number of votes cast but 14,000 votes is hardly some tiny margin that a few technically flawed votes can overcome. Besides who won Georgia does not impact the election outcome.

[Eddie Teach]

True, but they're trying to steal other states too.

[OttoVonBismarck]

Right, they have to work on at least three states because no one state can move it back to 270+ for Trump.

[Razgovory]

Asking someone to resign in disgrace simply to salve Donald Trump's ego is a big ask.  This whole thing is bonkers.  Are there any Republican office-holders who believe these bizarre conspiracy theories?

[The Brain]

Asking someone to resign in disgrace simply to salve Donald Trump's ego is a big ask.  This whole thing is bonkers.  Are there any Republican office-holders who believe these bizarre conspiracy theories?

You don't get high on your own supply.

[The Minsky Moment]

AFAIK the only states that currently have active lawsuits from the Trump campaign are Michigan and Pennsylvania.  Arizona was dropped, Georgia mooted by the recount.  Assuming the GA recount doesn't affect the result, taking Michigan and PA off the table would bring Biden down to 270 - i.e. he still wins.  So as of now there is no legal path that bars Biden even assuming total victory in the Michigan and Penn cases.  Which is a very big assumption given that the MI case was basically DOA when filed and the hot mess of the Penn case could be failing right now in court.