Questions tagged [contested-election]
Use for questions about elections in which the legality or validity of the result is challenged by the losing candidate or where there is no clear winner.
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questions
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How does Rita Hart know that 22 votes weren't counted?
Iowa District 2 votes were recounted multiple times and in the end, Republican Candidate Marianette Miller-Meeks won by a close election by 6 votes. Democrat Candidate Rita Hart claims that 22 votes ...
15
votes
2answers
1k views
How would a vote in US congress taken under duress be later invalidated?
My question is inspired by the hypothetical actions of some of the recent insurectionists, one of whom was pictured below:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/zip-cuffs-capitol-riots/
At least 2 men ...
2
votes
1answer
224 views
Which ten States did Trump want to contest?
Giuliani's voicemail message intended for Senator Tommy Tuberville mentions that Trump wanted to contest ten States, which is a lot more than the States the court cases were about. Which States is ...
4
votes
0answers
337 views
Who are the two dead Georgia voters who voted? [closed]
It was clear from the call that Trump has surrounded himself with aides who have fed his false perceptions that the election was stolen. When he claimed that more than 5,000 ballots were cast in ...
12
votes
2answers
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What procedures are in place to stop a U.S. Vice President from ignoring electors?
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and President Donald Trump's defeated electors appear to be suing Vice President Mike Pence in a Federal Court in Texas. Gohmert and a handful of the electors sued Pence ...
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votes
1answer
297 views
Why didn't poll observers use binoculars?
Apparently some of the lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign have protested the fact that their observers could not stand close enough to election workers to see the writing on mail-in ballots:
In ...
39
votes
9answers
9k views
In what way would invoking martial law help Trump overturn the election?
In the news, it has been said that still-president Trump could invoke martial law in order to help him overturn the election (CNN, Business Insider)
Flynn had suggested earlier this week that Trump ...
22
votes
1answer
5k views
As of 2020-12-16, is there any legal way for Trump to win the election despite the electoral college vote? [closed]
Trump has been claiming that the voting was flawed and there were many problems. At this point (December 16th, 2020), the Electoral College vote has been completed and Biden won. Is there any legally ...
3
votes
1answer
115 views
Rita Hart (2nd District Iowa) appeal. How many precedents were there?
I have just come across the article about Rita Hart appeal of the race to U.S. House in Iowa's 2nd congressional district. Particularly I was surprized by the sentence:
Given that, she said, she is ...
3
votes
1answer
118 views
Controversial Tigray regional election
As I understand it, one of the points of contention in the conflict between the government of Ethiopia and the Tigray region are contested regional elections in September at 2020. These have been ...
30
votes
11answers
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Georgia doing “hand recount” of 2020 Presidential Election Ballots. Why is “hand recount” better than “computer rescan”?
My initial judgement is that a "computer rescan" would have less chance of being biased and less change of making mistakes than a "hand recount", and so the "hand recount"...
2
votes
3answers
192 views
How exactly might Trump's contesting the election results determine the transition of the presidency? [closed]
The fact that Trump is going to contest the election results raises the following possibilities:
Trump fails to persuade the court that there were significant number of violations in the counting ...
15
votes
1answer
5k views
What if there is no Presidential winner on Jan 20?
In the year 2000, the state of Florida was in the process of various recounts when Bush v Gore put an end to the process on Dec 12, 2000, which allowed George W. Bush to become the 43th President ...
1
vote
3answers
370 views
What happens if presidential elections were not fair (in some states)?
Assume in some US state, the elections in November will not meet minimum standards of free and fair elections, e.g. a vast amount of votes is lost (in the mail), or extreme riots, or due to Corona, ...
18
votes
1answer
1k views
Has a sitting US president ever expressed anything less than a full willingness to accept the results of an election?
Currently there's a lot of discussion about Trump's vagueness when reporters ask him whether he would peacefully transfer his power to Joe Biden if he were to lose the election. Thus far Trump has not ...
5
votes
1answer
769 views
When was the last time the US electoral college chose a president other than the person recognized as winner at election time?
The Electoral College is elected on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November (United States presidential election - Wikipedia).
The President is then chosen by the Electoral College no ...
23
votes
5answers
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Given a 4-4 tie, how would the Supreme Court determine results for a contested election?
Consider a hypothetical scenario in which there are eight Supreme Court justices at the time election results are being determined (ie, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat has not been filled and there is no ...
5
votes
1answer
351 views
Can the House change how the contingent vote for President works?
If the electoral college is deadlocked, the House elects the president. However, each state gets 1 vote, so Massachusetts gets 1 vote despite being much smaller than Texas, for example.
At present, ...
0
votes
1answer
401 views
Can sitting US president “issue an executive order” barring his opponent presidency?
During his speech on a campaign rally in North Carolina, Trump said,
“You can’t have this guy as your president… You can’t have… maybe I’ll sign an executive order, you cannot have him as your ...
1
vote
2answers
262 views
How would election results end up in Supreme Court? [closed]
For the sake of argument, let's say that the election results are in, and Biden won the popular vote and the Electoral vote.
Assuming that the new Supreme Court judge confirmed by the Senate will ...
4
votes
2answers
362 views
What if the Electoral College ties and no candidate gets a majority in the House or Senate?
I was thinking about a scenario that looks like this:
Clinton wins all states she won in real life, plus Michigan and Pennsylvania. She gets 1% more votes than she really did.
McMullin wins Utah. ...
5
votes
1answer
290 views
Can an incumbent Vice President vote in a contingent election in which (s)he is a candidate?
If no Vice Presidential candidate gets a majority of votes in the Electoral College, a Contingent Election will be held in the Senate to elect a new VP.
Normally, if a vote in the Senate is tied, then ...
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votes
1answer
261 views
Can President Trump force a coalition if he loses the election? [closed]
When Trump was facing impeachment there were threats from some of his supporters that they would plunge the country into a civil war. Supposing the election is close, what if he refuses to leave the ...
38
votes
7answers
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Is there precedent or are there procedures for a US president refusing to concede to an electoral defeat?
I am wondering what would happen if an incumbent US President were to lose a presidential election, but refuse to accept the result and to concede defeat (even after any legitimate challenges and ...
6
votes
1answer
676 views
What happens if the state delegations tie on a presidential vote?
If no candidate gets a majority of electoral votes in the United States, states each get one vote for who becomes president. What happens if 25 states vote for the Democrat and 25 vote for the ...
7
votes
2answers
588 views
How would a tie for third place in the Electoral college vote be broken?
As I understand it if no candidates receives a majority the house of representatives would chose a president among the top three candidates, but what happens in (the unlikely) scenario where there's a ...
4
votes
1answer
170 views
Typically, are actual ballots required to be visible to election recount observers?
A Door County observer from the 2016 Wisconsin recount reports:
Observers were seated apart from the people counting the votes, so the
actual ballots are not visible to observers. ... In ...
6
votes
1answer
422 views
What happens if any of Jill Stein's recounts find evidence of major issues and it's impossible to say who won a state?
As is widely reported now, Jill Stein's campaign is requesting recounts in two states (and likely soon a third). Ideally, the recounts will closely (or exactly) match the reported totals, and the ...
2
votes
2answers
162 views
Which electors are chosen in divided state?
Maybe title isn't 100% accurate.
So let's say there is state X, where people have to pick 30 electors. As I know there is a rule 'winner takes all'. What happens when one of parties win in state ...
2
votes
2answers
2k views
What are Donald Trump's legal options if he loses the Presidential Election?
So assume sometime on the night of November 8th or maybe in the wee hours of the morning on the 9th, the media declares one Hillary Clinton the next president of the US. In response Donald Trump does ...
18
votes
3answers
4k views
Why is Trump not firm on accepting the results of the 2016 Presidential election?
Donald Trump occasionally claims that the election in November is rigged and stated during the 3rd presidential debate that he "will keep you in suspense".
Election Day hasn't even arrived and he is ...
6
votes
1answer
751 views
Would the outgoing VP break a Senate tie for his successor?
The Twelfth Amendment specifies:
The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors ...
9
votes
2answers
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What happens in the event of a tie for a 12th amendment House vote?
Evan McMullin is running for president, hoping to be elected via the 12th amendment, which would require him to receive at least 1 EC vote, and there to not be a candidate that receives the minimum ...
13
votes
3answers
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What happens if no candidate reaches 270 electoral votes?
I have seen polls that indicate that Evan McMullin is statistically even with Trump and Clinton in the state of Utah. With the possibility of six votes taken away by another candidate it is possible ...
39
votes
2answers
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Can the current President of the United States block the transfer of their office to the next elected president?
As indicated by commentary in the news, a considerable amount of people seem concerned about who wins the U.S. Presidential election. For this reason we have for example articles like this Op-Ed in LA ...
