US President Donald Trump called in his lawyers to shore up his dimming re-election prospects, but legal experts said the flurry of lawsuits had little chance of changing the outcome but might cast doubt on the process.

As Trump’s paths to victory narrowed, his campaign on Thursday was ramping up legal challenges and said it was planning to file its latest case in Nevada.

On Wednesday, the campaign sued in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia and asked to join a pending case at the US Supreme Court.

Experts said the litigation serves to drag out the vote count and postpone major media from declaring Biden the victor, which would have dire political implications for Trump.

“The current legal maneuvering is mainly a way for the Trump campaign to try to extend the ball game in the long-shot hope that some serious anomaly will emerge,” said Robert Yablon, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. “As of now, we haven’t seen any indication of systematic irregularities in the vote count.”

Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said in a statement Wednesday the lawsuits were aimed at ensuring legal votes were counted.

“The lawsuits are meritless,” said Bob Bauer, who is part of Biden’s legal team. “They’re intended to give the Trump campaign the opportunity to argue the vote count should stop. It is not going to stop.”

Ultimately, for the lawsuits to have an impact, the race would have to hang on the outcome of one or two states separated by a few thousand votes, according to experts.

In Michigan and Pennsylvania, Trump asked courts to temporarily halt the vote counts because the campaign’s observers were allegedly denied access to the counting process.

The Michigan case was dismissed on Thursday but a Pennsylvania court ordered that Trump campaign observers be granted better access to counting process in Philadelphia.

At the Supreme Court, the campaign is seeking to invalidate mail-in votes in Pennsylvania that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive by the end of Friday.

In Georgia, the Trump campaign asked a judge to require Chatham County to separate late-arriving ballots to ensure they were not counted, but the case was dismissed on Thursday.

“There is no consistent strategy there,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. She said the campaign was “throwing theories at a wall to see if anything sticks for long enough to muck up the waters.”

Edward Foley, who specializes in election law at the Moritz College of Law, said the cases might have merit but only affected a small number of ballots and procedural issues.

“But merit in that sense is very different from having the kind of consequence that Bush v. Gore did in 2000,” said Foley.

In that case, the Supreme Court reversed a ruling by Florida’s top court that had ordered a manual recount and prompted Democrat Al Gore to concede the election to Republican George W. Bush.

The 2000 election improbably close, with a margin of 537 votes in Florida deciding the outcome.

The campaign is still challenging late arriving mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania, which according to media reports numbered in the hundreds so far, likely too few to have a meaningful impact.

In addition, it appears increasingly likely Biden can win the race even if he loses the state.

Danielle Lang, who advocates for voting rights at Campaign Legal Center, said Trump has a long history of attempting to whip up mistrust in our electoral system.

“Allegations of ‘irregularities’ — backed up by lawsuits, even frivolous ones — could potentially serve that narrative,” she said.

Experts said the lawsuits and claims of fraud might be aimed at softening the sting of being bounced from office by calling the process into question.

“The litigation looks more like an effort to allow Trump to continue rhetorically attempting to delegitimize an electoral loss,” said Joshua Geltzer, a professor at Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy & Protection.

(Source: Reuters)

Democratic US presidential candidate Joe Biden is nearing 270 electoral votes after key victories in Michigan and Wisconsin, while President Donald Trump demanded a recount and threatened legal action.

Victories in those Midwestern states gave Biden a critical boost in the race to obtain the magic number of 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.

Trump had won both Michigan and Wisconsin in 2016. With the count still underway, he has falsely declared victory, accusing the Democrats of trying to steal the election and vowed to fight the states in court.

“It’s clear that we’re winning enough states to reach (the) 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency,” Biden said in his home state of Delaware.

“I’m not here to declare that we’ve won. But I am here to report that when the count is finished we believe we will be the winners.”

There are five states still left uncalled, including Pennsylvania, and key small state of Nevada – meaning both Trump and Biden still have a path to victory.

Biden has so far secured 264 electoral votes while Trump stands at 214.

If Biden were to win in Nevada, which has 6 electoral votes, he would in theory have the necessary 270.

Other closely contested states including Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina were still counting votes, leaving the national election outcome uncertain.

Trump’s campaign launched lawsuits in Michigan and Pennsylvania to stop vote counting and demanded a recount in Wisconsin.

Trump provided no evidence to back up his claim of voting fraud and did not explain how he would fight the results at the Supreme Court. US election experts say fraud is very rare.

Source: Presstv

Tension spiralled in the still undecided US election Wednesday after President Donald Trump made unprecedented claims of fraud and demanded a recount in Wisconsin, where Democrat Joe Biden notched up another win to inch closer to overall victory.

While there was no official winner more than 12 hours after the last polls closed on Tuesday, the fate of the most divisive contest in decades was coming down to just a handful of states where the Republican incumbent and his challenger fought over razor-thin margins.

In the latest blow to Trump, Biden, 77, was declared the winner of Wisconsin, with an unsurmountable lead of 20,000 after 98 percent of ballots had been counted.

This mirrored Biden’s slow but steady march across the remaining toss-up states in the vast country, where counting was complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic and record numbers of early and mailed-in votes.

Biden led in Michigan by nearly 45,000 votes with 94 percent counted and has already been declared winner of another tight race in Arizona. Results were still being tabulated in Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania — all of them close contests.

The apparent shift in fortunes toward the Democrat prompted Trump, 74, to launch a tirade claiming mass fraud that he claimed on Twitter had made his victories “magically disappear.”

Trump’s campaign announced a lawsuit to try and suspend the vote count in Michigan, where it said its team was denied proper access to observe vote counting.

The campaign said it was also suing to halt the counting of votes in Pennsylvania — after the president called overnight for Supreme Court intervention to exclude the processing of mail-in ballots after the close of polls.

And it demanded a recount in Wisconsin, citing “irregularities.”

– Biden’s confidence –

The Biden camp expressed confidence, with campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon calling victory by the former vice president a “foregone conclusion.”

Biden himself was expected shortly to make a statement on the knife-edge race.

But Trump has made clear he will not accept defeat before he has exhausted every possible challenge.

During the night after polls closed Tuesday, he went on live television from the White House to claim “we did win this election” and to allege there had been “fraud on the American public.”

He later repeated his vague accusations of vote rigging on Twitter, despite a lack of any substantiated reports of meaningful irregularities during voting or counting.

“Last night I was leading, often solidly, in many key States, in almost all instances Democrat run & controlled,” Trump tweeted. “Then, one by one, they started to magically disappear as surprise ballot dumps were counted.”

– ‘We have to be patient’ –

The tightest and messiest count could potentially unfold in Pennsylvania — the biggest prize still outstanding.

Here, Trump had a roughly 500,000 vote lead with an estimated 78 percent of the vote counted but votes were awaited from heavily Democratic parts of the state, promising to level things up.

“We have to be patient,” Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said. “We may not know the results today.

“There are millions of mail-in ballots,” he said. “They’re going to be counted accurately and they will be counted fully.”

The Democratic governor shrugged off criticism from the White House over the slow vote count and said “our democracy is being tested in this election.”

“Pennsylvania will have a fair election,” he said. “And that election will be free of outside influences.”

The tight White House race and recriminations evoked memories of the 2000 election between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore.

That race, which hinged on a handful of votes in Florida, eventually ended up in the Supreme Court, which halted a recount while Bush was ahead.

The US Elections Project estimated total turnout at a record 160 million voters including more than 101.1 million early voters, 65.2 million of whom voted by mail.

Source: AFP

Joe Biden leads US President Donald Trump in electoral votes yet both still have a chance to reach the magic number of 270 – and with it the keys to the White House. Several states are still to play for, with votes still being counted.

Seven states still undecided: Biden leads in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin, Trump in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia.

The election is likely to hinge on postal votes, which are still being counted.

Trump has predicted a “big win”, claiming – without evidence – that Democrats are trying to “steal” the election.

Biden has called for patience, saying he is “on track” to win the White House race.

America set for its highest voter turnout in over a century, with more than 100 million votes cast before Election Day.

US President Donald Trump leads Democratic rival Joe Biden in the vital battleground of Florida and other US swing states, but Biden has pinned his hopes on Arizona and a trio of Rust Belt states that could take days to count their votes.

Trump is projected to win the key battleground state of Florida after significantly outperforming pollsters’ predictions

Biden leads in Arizona and is locked in a close race in other key states

The election is likely to hinge on results in Pennsylvania and other “Rust Belt” states, where vote counting is expected to stretch for hours or days

Trump has predicted a “big win”, claiming – without evidence – that Democrats are trying to “steal” the election

Biden has called for patience, saying he is “on track” to win the White House race

America looked set for its highest voter turnout in over a century, with more than 100 million votes cast before Election Day

Reported By France 24

Supporters of White House hopeful Joe Biden began gathering nervously late Tuesday for an election night event like no other.

Shortly after 10:00 PM (0200 GMT Wednesday), a trickle of cars started to arrive for a socially distanced drive-in in the parking lot of the Chase Center in the Democrat’s hometown.

Some 200 to 300 cars are expected for the event, where Biden and running mate Kamala Harris — joined by their spouses Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff — will address supporters from an outdoor stage.

With early projected results inconclusive, arrivals in the parking lot were slow. When people did arrive, they stood around anxiously watching results come in on giant screens.

Among the first to get there was 37-year-old Rossana Arteaga-Lorenza, who came with her young son. She had Biden-Harris stickers on her car and US flags hanging out of the window.

“I’m excited to be here,” she told AFP, through the window of the driver’s seat.

“If Joe Biden becomes president, I will be extremely happy. We are hopeful for a better future for our country.”

Drive-in rallies were a feature of the 77-year-old Biden’s campaign due to the coronavirus pandemic. Red, white and blue traffic cones with “Biden-Harris” emblazoned on them kept the vehicles six feet apart.

Biden supporter Thomas Hansen, 32, said he was cautiously optimistic about the night ahead.

“I’m hesitant to get excited about it, but I think it’s going well, especially by the number of people who voted early,” he told AFP.

Hansen said he was tired of the drama surrounding Trump’s presidency and wanted some “normalcy.”

“I think it should be boring most of the time in the White House,” he added. “If it isn’t, then you’re kind of doing something wrong.”

– Childhood home –

With early results suggesting a close race, it promised to be a long night. Hansen’s sister, Virginia Hansen, said she feared it could be days before a winner is confirmed.

“I’m withholding any hope for now,” said the 30-year-old.

Biden had started the day by visiting St. Joseph on the Brandywine, a Catholic church in his affluent Wilmington neighborhood.

He stopped at the cemetery where his first wife and daughter — and his son Beau — are buried.

Biden then visited his childhood home in the industrial town of Scranton in Pennsylvania, signing his name on the living room wall for good luck.

“From this House to the White House with the Grace of God,” Biden wrote, adding his name and the date: “11-3-2020.”

He stopped in Philadelphia before heading home to Wilmington, where he will watch the results before his event.

Source:  AFP

A temporary wall has been erected around the White House perimeter as law enforcement agencies prepare in advance for potential unrest and violence on Election Day.

Media reported a non-scalable “anti-climb” fence, made from a welded wire mesh that is  impossible to climb and very difficult to cut, installed around the White House on Monday.

Additional fencing already had been erected around Lafayette Square, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, the location of protests over racial equality in June following the police-killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died on May 25 when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on the neck of the handcuffed former bouncer for nearly nine minutes during an arrest.

The new fencing was among other measures being taken in Washington, DC, and other cities ahead of expected protests.

Meanwhile, fears of possible unrest on Election Night and beyond prompted many businesses and shops to board up doors and windows.

In anticipation of violence, in New York City, the Empire State Building, the Macy’s department store, and the skyscraper that houses the Trump-favored Fox News channel were all boarded up.

On Rodeo Drive, one of the most expensive shopping streets in California’s Beverley Hills, staff stripped the display windows at Tiffany & Co. and Van Cleef & Arpels of their jewels.

“Hopefully this is all for nothing,” Kathy Gohari, vice president of the Rodeo Drive Committee, the merchants association, said on Monday as she watched workers nail plywood over luxury storefronts.

However, in New York City’s Times Square in recent days ardent Republican Trump supporters and Democrats, as well as adherents of the anti-fascism movement known as ANTIFA, have been clashing with one another.

US President Donald Trump has warned that he expected an unprecedented level of cheating and violence in the course of the 2020 presidential election. 

“[C]heating can happen like you have never seen,” Trump told a rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania on Monday. US Supreme Court ruling will ‘induce violence,’ Trump warns ahead of Election Day

In a Monday night tweet, Trump criticized the US Supreme Court’s decision to allow officials in Pennsylvania and North Carolina to continue accepting and counting mail-in ballots for a few days after Election Day, saying the court ruling will “induce violence in the streets.”

Trump’s prediction or threat of violence has increased anxieties about the potential for violence in a polarized nation engaged in a bitter and divisive race to send their favored presidential candidate to the White House.

Trump reportedly plans to declare a premature victory if he is “ahead” on Tuesday night, despite uncounted ballots.

The incumbent has highlighted massive voter fraud in this year’s election, downplaying the chances of a peaceful transition to his probable successor.

Thousands of US troops have been put on stand-by for rapid deployment in case of violence.

Source: Presstv

American voters in Dixville Notch, a village of 12 residents in the US state of New Hampshire, kicked off Election Day at midnight on Tuesday by voting unanimously for Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

The tiny northeastern town in the middle of the forest, near the Canadian border, has traditionally voted “first in the nation” since 1960.

Neighboring village Millsfield also begins voting at midnight but a third village in the area, which typically follows the same tradition, canceled overnight voting due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Most polling stations on the East Coast will open at 6:00 or 7:00 am (1100 or 1200 GMT) on Tuesday.

While many early votes are believed to have been cast by Democrats — encouraged by Biden to take advantage of the opportunity — Trump’s campaign is hoping for a massive wave of Republican supporters voting in person on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday predicted a “beautiful victory” hours before polls open in Nov. 3 presidential race.

“We’re going to have another beautiful victory tomorrow,” he said at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan late Monday.

“We’re going to make history once again,” he said.

Trump earlier rallied in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which was at the center of anti-racism protests this summer after African-American Jacob Blake was shot in the back by the police.

The US president was in a final hour bid to prove the polls wrong, while his Democratic challenger Joe Biden predicted victory and told America to “take back” democracy.

“We brought law and order to Kenosha,” Trump said to cheers, as soon as he took the stage. “They’re waging war on our police.”

The US president is trailing Biden in almost every poll amid his poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that has taken some 231,000 American lives and badly damaged the economy that had been his biggest selling point.

‘We’re done with chaos’

Biden, 77, made his own closing argument on Monday with events in Cleveland, Ohio, and then Pittsburgh in the ultimate swing state of Pennsylvania.

“I have a feeling we’re coming together for a big win tomorrow,” he said. “It’s time to stand up and take back our democracy.”

“It’s time for Donald Trump to pack his bags and go home,” Biden told supporters in Cleveland.

“We’re done with the chaos! We’re done with the tweets, the anger, the hate, the failure, the irresponsibility.”

“I’m hoping for a straightforward, peaceful election, a lot of people showing up,” Biden told reporters in Pittsburgh.

Nearly 100 million Americans have already cast ballots in early voting, highlighting the tensest race in recent memory.

Trump warns of ‘cheating’

For weeks, Trump has made unprecedented claims that his Democratic opponent will bring anarchy and that attempts are being made to rig the result against him.

He focused especially on battleground Pennsylvania’s rule allowing absentee ballots received within three days after Tuesday to be counted.

In a tweet flagged with a warning label by Twitter on Monday, he said this would “allow rampant and unchecked cheating and will undermine our entire systems of laws.”

“It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!” Trump tweeted.

“It’s going to be cheating,” he said during the Wisconsin rally.

Source: Presstv