November 19, 2020

Election Watch: The Window Narrows

A brief update on the status of legal challenges in several contested states.

As lawsuits and recounts continue, the official outcome of the 2020 election is slowly coming into focus. Where do things currently stand?

Pennsylvania: On Sunday, President Donald Trump’s legal team dropped its primary fraud allegation due to last Friday’s ruling by the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which effectively narrowed the parameters of the suit. The fewer than 700 votes now in question are clearly not enough to overcome Joe Biden’s current 83,000 vote lead, so Trump’s legal team elected to drop that suit in order to focus its efforts on the claim of denial of equal protection in pro-Trump counties. The argument here is that, in the pro-Biden counties in which Philadelphia and Pittsburgh reside, voters were invited by election officials to cure defective ballots, whereas the same offer was not extended to voters in pro-Trump counties. The problem is that even if the court sides with Trump, the number of ballots impacted is still not enough to overcome Biden’s lead. As Andrew McCarthy observes, “The main problem for President Trump continues to be the math. There are not nearly enough ballots at issue in what remains of his lawsuit to alter the outcome of the voting in Pennsylvania.”

Michigan: The two Republicans on the Wayne County Board of Canvassers were pressured by Democrats and harassed by leftists until they agreed to drop their objections and vote to certify the county’s election results. They have now backtracked. As The Washington Post reports, “In affidavits signed on Wednesday evening, the two GOP members of the four-member Wayne County Board of Canvessers allege that they were improperly pressured into certifying the election and accused Democrats of reneging on a promise to audit votes in Detroit.”

However, the board’s Democrat chairman, Jonathan Kinlock, says certified results were already sent to the secretary of state, so it’s too late for the two Republicans to change their minds. The two Republicans claim they were essentially deceived by Democrats, who assured their colleagues that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson had agreed to conduct an audit based on allegations of “serious flaws which deserved investigation,” when in fact Benson had not agreed to do so. Will the Republicans’ rescission be permitted? If so, expect wrangling over the vote in Wayne County, where Detroit is located, to heat up, as it is the county that put Biden into the lead, which now sits at a statewide 150,000 votes.

Wisconsin: Republicans are crying foul in the Badger State, too, charging that Democrats on the state’s elections commission were seeking to change the rules following the Trump campaign’s filing of a recount petition in the counties of Dane and Milwaukee. Reince Priebus, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager and first chief of staff, responded, “Let’s get this straight. The Trump campaign sent the Wis Election Comm. $3 mil and filed its petition for a recount. Then the WEC immediately called a special meeting to change certain recount rules that deal with the issues brought up in the petition? You can’t make this up.” It appears that the crux of the disagreement centers on rules determining the legality of absentee ballots and observers’ ability to witness counting. Trump trails by just over 33,000 votes.

Georgia: Election officials have yet to announce the results of the statewide hand recount initiated by Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. While three counties uncovered a total of just over 5,000 previously uncounted votes, which cut Biden’s lead down to roughly 12,800 votes, there appears to be no significant instances of voter fraud. Once the results are announced, and the numbers are not expected to significantly change, then by state law Trump will be entitled to request another recount.

As things currently stand, Trump’s path to victory has narrowed considerably. He would need to flip both Michigan and Wisconsin, likely via court battles, and hope the outcome of the Georgia recount has somehow gone his way. Even with a court win, Pennsylvania looks to be mathematically out of reach.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.