President Trump’s contesting of election results in several key states continues to be an uphill battle as a little-known deadline called “safe harbor” approaches. What is “safe harbor?”
Summary
“Safe Harbor” Day has arrived, signaling President Trump’s narrowing of options in contesting state-level election results.
- According to the Associated Press, every state but Wisconsin “appears to have met” the deadline, which compels Congress’ January 6th certification of the Electoral College vote to be bound by state results confirmed by December 8th.
- Despite the deadline, the Trump campaign and allies continue to file appeals in legal challenges in a variety of states across the country. The Nevada Supreme Court ordered a 2PM Tuesday (December 8th) deadline for the Trump campaign and Democrats to file motions in the appeal by Trump lawyers to overturn a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit contesting the state’s election results.
- In Arizona, the state Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from the Arizona Republican Party over a case regarding duplicated ballots which was dismissed by a Maricopa County judge.
- While Nevada and Arizona offer a glimmer of hope for the Trump camp, lawsuits in Georgia and Michigan were dismissed, which CNBC called “serious blows to Trump’s” efforts to reverse the impending Electoral College results.
- Both suits were dismissed in federal court because “the plaintiffs (attorney Sidney Powell, who is not legal counsel for the Trump campaign) lacked standing and the cases were filed too late.”
- In an analysis of the legal avenues taken by the Trump campaign, the Associated Press noted judges of all political stripes have been hesitant to entertain, let alone embrace, the allegations of voter and election fraud.
- CNN’s Elie Honig published a scathing opinion piece suggesting the “safe harbor” date should be a final signal for Joe Biden’s victory before the official Electoral College certification, while a separate CNN report suggests the Trump campaign will be winding down its legal efforts.
- The Washington Post and New York Times reported on a phone call between President Trump and the speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in which Trump requested the legislature’s help in setting aside the election results and awarding Pennsylvania’s electoral votes to Trump.
- Reporting by the Wall Street Journal implies the series of legal challenges to election results by conservative groups unaffiliated with the Trump campaign has helped spread a feeling of mistrust among conservative voters.
- National Review’s Jim Geraghty writes about the safe harbor deadline and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s moving up a deadline for review of an appeal so the Court can avoid rulings after the safe harbor deadline.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2020
