Trump sues for time
President’s moves aim to stall states’ vote certification
As Georgia heads for a recount, President Trump’s campaign is suing to stop other key states from certifying their election results — alleging fraud in Michigan and claiming Pennsylvania officials “mismanaged” mail-in voting and limited poll watchers’ access.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Wednesday that there would be a hand recount of the nearly 5 million votes cast in the presidential race, in which projected president-elect Joe Biden holds a roughly 14,000-vote lead.
At the same time, Trump’s team has filed lawsuits to stop Michigan and Pennsylvania from certifying their election results later this month and give more time for the campaign to flesh out its legal challenges before the federal deadline of Dec. 8, experts and insiders say.
“It’s more important that the record number of American voters are assured of the honesty and voracity of what occurred at the polls than arbitrary certification deadlines,” said Lou Murray, a national advisor to Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Biden was projected to become president-elect on Saturday, when major media outlets called the race in his favor based on unofficial results.
But Biden cannot officially be declared the winner until states certify their results, their electors meet on Dec. 14 to cast their votes for president, and Congress convenes on Jan. 6 to count those votes.
State recounts and court challenges can continue through the federal deadline of Dec. 8 — a date that looms large for team Trump.
Pushing for recounts and audits is “a legitimate thing to do,” said Morgan Marietta, a UMass Lowell political science professor. “It does increase trust even if it doesn’t change the outcome.”
The clock is ticking for the Trump campaign. Pennsylvania’s certification deadline is Nov. 23 — unless the results are within 0.5%, in which case the secretary of the commonwealth would have to order a recount by Nov. 12, to be completed by Nov. 24 with results submitted by Nov. 25. As of Wednesday evening, Biden’s lead was outside the half-percent margin.
In Michigan, election officials are scheduled to meet on Nov. 23 to canvass the results, and any recount petitions must be submitted within 48 hours after they finish their work.
Raffensperger set the goal of completing Georgia’s recount by the state’s Nov. 20 certification deadline.
“There is no drawback in my mind to counting and auditing until the safe-harbor day of Dec. 8,” Marietta said. “After that, it’s a problem. Then you get into constitutional crises.”