Trump, The Blue Shift, and The Legal Aftermath
(Spectrum Capital Tonight | Oct. 1, 2020) For months, President Trump has been laying the groundwork to claim that, if he loses the election, it must be because the election was rigged.
In fact, he said just that in August:
“The only way we’re going to lose this election is if the election is rigged—remember that. So we have to be very careful. . . The only way they’re (Democrats) going to win is that way. And we can’t let that happen.”
The president is specifically targeting mail-in voting, claiming it’s “dangerous for this country because of cheaters” and that it’s an invitation for fraud …
… William Banks, a professor of law and public affairs at Syracuse University told Capital Tonight, he’s more than a little worried.
“On a scale of one to 10, I’d say my worry is about a nine,” Banks said. “There are several plausible scenarios that could cause this election to go off the rails.”
One scenario? Because of partisan fighting around mail-in ballots, some key states like Pennsylvania or Florida won’t get their votes into the Electoral College by December 14, the date the electors meet and cast their ballots for president and vice president.
Professor Banks explains that if neither candidate gets to 270 electoral votes, the election would be decided by the House of Representatives.
“On January 6, they’re supposed to count the votes. If neither candidate has 270 votes because of the circumstances you just described, there will be 1 vote per state, so 50 potential votes,” Banks explained.
Each state would determine which candidate had won their electoral votes and they would pass that information along to the House.
Under this scenario, the Republicans would be likely winners.
“As things stand now, there are more Republican-controlled states than Democratic-controlled states,” Banks explained …