America’s presidential election is moving towards its nerve-shredding conclusion and hinges on a few battleground states where counting continues.
Trump’s possible paths to reelection are closing up quickly as a late surge of mail-in ballots skew for Joe Biden and put him within touching distance of the White House.
But the President has made clear he will go down fighting and has filed a series of lawsuits alleging election malpractice.
He is suing in Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Nevada, and is demanding a recount in Wisconsin after Biden squeaked out razor-thin win.
Scroll down for a run-down of the legal wrangling Trump hopes will still clinch him victory.
Michigan – stop votes being counted and review ballots
Called for Biden with 99 per cent of ballots counted
Donald Trump yesterday filed a lawsuit in the battleground state of Michigan seeking to halt vote-counting and review counted ballots.
Campaign manager Bill Stepien said Republicans had not been given ‘meaningful access to numerous counting locations to observe the opening of ballots and the counting process’.
He claims this violates state law and the Trump campaign has filed a suit with the Michigan Court of Claims.
It demands counting is stopped until Trump campaign poll-watchers are allowed to observe, while also asking to review the ballots already counted.
Michigan’s Attorney General Dana Nessel reacted to the statement saying no suit has yet been served, but insisted the elections had been ‘conducted transparently, with access provided for both political parties and the public’.
Tensions were palpable at Detroit’s main absentee vote counting centre as police blockaded election challengers from entering the hall, which had reached capacity.
RECOUNT RULES
Automatic recount: Yes
Recount law: A recount is required if the margin of victory is less than or equal to 2,000 votes.
Deadline: Request for a recount should be made within 48 hours of the vote canvass.
Who pays: The candidate requesting the recount.
Georgia – secure and account for late mail-in ballots
Too early to call. Trump ahead by 18,000 votes with 60,000 still to count
President Trump and the Georgia Republican Party have filed a lawsuit against election officials in Chatham County, asking a judge to order all late ballots be secured and accounted for.
It was filed after a Republican observer claims to have witnessed mail-in ballots which arrived after the 7pm deadline added to a pile of lawful votes to be counted.
Sean Pumphry, a registered GOP poll-watcher, said he saw 53 unprocessed ballots added to processed ones.
In the GOP’s 14-page lawsuit to the superior court of Chatham County, which includes the city of Savannah, he claims: ‘In accordance with my training and experience the actions taken by poll workers do not comply with Georgia law’s safeguards to insure chain of custody.’
It is not clear how Pumphry knew the unprocessed mail-in ballots arrived after the 7pm deadline, and Georgia Republican chairman David Shafer did not comment on this when approached by the Savannah Morning News.
Shafer said in a statement that he planned to file suits in several counties in Georgia.
RECOUNT RULES
Automatic recount: No
Recount law: A candidate can request a recount if the margin of victory is less than or equal to 0.5 percentage point.
Deadline: A recount must be requested within two business days after results have been certified.
Who pays: State law does not specify who is responsible for recount costs.
Wisconsin – recount the ballots
Called for Biden with 99 per cent of ballots counted
The Trump campaign last night announced it would demand a recount of ballots in Wisconsin after an ultra-tight race.
Biden only edged a victory in the state, leading Trump by just 0.53 per cent of the vote.
Wisconsin state law allows campaigns to pay for a recount if the margin of defeat is less than 1 per cent.
The Trump campaign also alleged ‘irregularities’ in the vote counting and poured doubt on the veracity of the tally.
Campaign manager Stepien yesterday said in a statement: ‘Despite ridiculous public polling used as a voter suppression tactic, Wisconsin has been a razor thin race as we always knew that it would be.
‘There have been reports of irregularities in several Wisconsin counties which raise serious doubts about the validity of the results.
‘The President is well within the threshold to request a recount and we will immediately do so.’
RECOUNT RULES
Automatic recount: No
Recount law: A full or partial recount can be requested if the margin of victory is less than or equal to 1 percentage point.
Deadline: For presidential elections, the request must be made by 5 p.m. on the first business day after the state’s vote canvass.
Who pays: The candidate requesting the recount, if the margin is more than 0.25 percentage point of the total vote.
Nevada – ballots came from ‘non residents’ and dead people
Too early to call; Biden leads by around 7,000. A result is expected at noon EST on Thursday
Trump’s campaign is expected to file a lawsuit in Nevada demanding that the count be called into question.
They will claim that ballots were registered under the names of some deceased residents and that others were cast by non-residents.
They say they have proof that tens of thousands were cast in the names of deceased residents.
‘We are confident that when all legal votes are tallied — and only legal votes are tallied — President Trump will win the state of Nevada,’ Former Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell told Fox News.
He and other members of Trump’s circle are expected to hold a press conference later on Thursday morning.
RECOUNT RULES
Automatic recount: Yes
Recount law: A recount is automatic if the margin of victory is less than or equal to 0.5 percentage point. Two other avenues for requesting recounts include requiring at least three voter signatures that attest to an error in the vote tally, and going to state court to file petitions alleging fraud and error.
Deadline: By 5 p.m. on the second Thursday following the election, for automatic recounts. If a recount is requested, the deadline is five days after the election.
Who pays: The candidate requesting the recount.
Pennsylvania – multiple legal challenges
Won’t know until Friday. Trump is ahead by more than 130,000 votes
Supreme Court
The Trump campaign yesterday released a statement saying it would be taking ‘critical legal actions’ in the state.
It will wade into a case currently before the Supreme Court which challenges state law that allows for mail-in ballots that arrive up to three days after election day.
The case of Republican Party of Pennsylvania v. Boockvar is currently before the Supreme Court and is pending petition.
Deputy Trump Campaign Manager Justin Clark said the campaign will ‘move to intervene’ in the case.
Stop counting until transparency guarantees
Like in Georgia, he also said Trump would be suing to stop ‘Democrat election officials from hiding the ballot counting and processing’ from GOP poll-watchers.
He claimed that Republican observers in Philadelphia were ordered to stand 25 metres away from counting staff, making it impossible to watch.
And like in Michigan, the Trump campaign is suing to halt vote counting until ‘meaningful transparency’ is guaranteed.
Voter ID challenge
Trump has accused Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar of unilaterally extending the deadline by which mail-in voters whose voter ID was missing to provide proof.
Under state law, first-time mail-in and absentee voters must provide identification.
RECOUNT RULES
Automatic recount: Yes
Recount law: A recount is automatic if the margin of victory is less than or equal to 0.5 percentage point. Two other avenues for requesting recounts include requiring at least three voter signatures that attest to an error in the vote tally, and going to state court to file petitions alleging fraud and error.
Deadline: By 5 p.m. on the second Thursday following the election, for automatic recounts. If a recount is requested, the deadline is five days after the election.
Who pays: The candidate requesting the recount.