Election Litigation Status

[Res Ipsa]

Wednesday updates:

Trump v. Boockvar: Trump's lawyers sent a letter to the Third Circuit kind of sort of requesting oral argument. https://assets.documentcloud.org/docume ... ircuit.pdf

[Some Schmo]

A little tame for my liking, but it makes the point.

Tame, you say? It may seem hyperbolic to some, but I'm inclined to agree with you. It is hard to overstate the damage Trump and his sycophantic, gullible minions have done to the fabric of our democracy and mutually respectful discourse.

Like many others, I've always felt talking about Trump and his supporters in regular terms was dishonest. It only serves to normalize their abhorrent behavior.

The danger, of course, is that describing them appropriately makes a person sound as alarmist as the idiots freaking out about Obama for 8 years, so right wingers get the feeling all of this is just a game of "who can alarm the best?" They don't take our Trump warnings seriously, because they were never really serious complaining about Obama. When BS is the only tool in your toolbox, you think everyone is a bullshitter.

That would be reason #1,984,387 I am pessimistic about humanity's chances of survival.

[Res Ipsa]

Interesting opinion piece from one of the many state and local Republican officials who put country before party. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/ ... 407586002/

Trump's bus is huuuuuge. Biggest bus ever. Nobody's seen anything like it.

[subgenius]

I am unaware of any necessity for Trump to concede. The law does not require it, correct?
So what is the "leverage" you are imagining?

Only the delusional leverage Trump might be imagining he has by refusing to concede or delaying his concession in hopes of getting some kind of immunity from prosecution. Obviously no one can force Trump to concede he lost, but whether he concedes or not, he has no choice but to leave office by January 20, voluntarily or not.

So, your post; question; and cited article was just ignorant?

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Interesting opinion piece from one of the many state and local Republican officials who put country before party. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/ ... 407586002/

Trump's bus is huuuuuge. Biggest bus ever. Nobody's seen anything like it.

You'd think some asshole having a www.reddit.com/r/leopardsatemyface moment would reevaluate what means to be in a political party that supports this kind of disastrous behavior.

- Doc

[Res Ipsa]

Interesting opinion piece from one of the many state and local Republican officials who put country before party. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/ ... 407586002/

Trump's bus is huuuuuge. Biggest bus ever. Nobody's seen anything like it.

You'd think some asshole having a www.reddit.com/r/leopardsatemyface moment would reevaluate what means to be in a political party that supports this kind of disastrous behavior.

- Doc

I think the Republican Party is having an identity crisis. Our elections are generally staffed and monitored by teams of citizens from both political parties. Those people, of opposite political parties, work together remarkably well. Absent Trump's campaign to undermine confidence in the election, there would have been remarkably little fuss. To me, that indicates that there are millions of folks that identify as Republicans but aren't hardcore Trumpers. So, do they abandon the party? Become independents who have no organized political representation? Or do they see Trump as a short-term fad that will pass after he leaves office? Or do they join the Lincoln project, whose former-Republican members have decided to try and burn the party to the ground and salt the earth afterward, taking with them those that collaborated with Trump?

I dunno. Human brains have so many ways of dealing with cognitive dissonance, it's hard to predict. I feel bad for those current and former Republicans who do put country over party and are being shoved out of the party they have identified with, some for their entire lives. Maybe they will become part of a force that will break the stranglehold the Rs and Ds have on our politics.

[Res Ipsa]

Lin Wood v. Raffensperger: The 11th Circuit has ordered that briefs be filed by 12/1 addressing jurisdiction to hear the appeal. This is not a good sign for Lin Wood. It means that the court, which is pretty conservative, doesn't think it has jurisdiction. https://lawandcrime.com/2020-election/1 ... your-case/

Kelly v. Pennsylvania: The Commonwealth Court issued an order freezing the certification process. That process is complete for the President and Vice-President, but may not be for other results. Hearing on Petitioner's Emergency Motion for Injunction and Petitioner's Supplemental Emergency Motion for Injunction scheduled for Friday. I"m trying to dig up a copy of the motions. https://Twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/1 ... 07968?s=20

Trump v. Boockvar: Here is a section from an amicus brief offered to refute the notion that the legislature can just step in an appoint a slate of electors. TL/DR The electors are chosen on election day. We don't know what the choice was until we count the votes, but the choice was made on election day. The exception that refers to legislatures applies only if the results of the count are that no one was elected. (i.e., a state requires a majority vote, but none of the candidates gets a majority). https://Twitter.com/tribelaw/status/133 ... 34951?s=20

Stokke v. Cegavske: I left this NV case out of my recap, as it looked to be dead. Plaintiffs made it official by dismissing it today. https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-cont ... missal.pdf

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

What in the world does "to perfect the certification of the results" mean? Certified means certified. The certification happened.

- Doc

[Some Schmo]

I think the Republican Party is having an identity crisis.

That was a great post.

I wonder if you can get enough McCain/Romney type Republicans to just create a new, sane conservative party. It seems to me there's a pretty huge ideological split in the GOP between racism/nationalism and more traditional Republican values. They're eating each other alive, if they're participating at all.

But it seems to me the only way you get a sane conservative movement going is by rebranding conservatism; you got to get away from the Republican label. Continuing to call conservatism a Republican value is screwing over real conservatives. The GOP is the party of obstruction. Conservatism and obstructionism aren't even close to the same thing.

Rebranding conservatism in this country is a herculean task, though, despite the Trump stench it now has. The GOP base votes like drones no matter what their party's doing.

[Res Ipsa]

What in the world does "to perfect the certification of the results" mean? Certified means certified. The certification happened.

- Doc

So, for example, the last step might be a purely ministerial act by the governor to announce the results. So, all of the substantive acts for certification were complete, and only non-substantive actions remain. A good example is NV. The state Supreme Court canvasses the return and actually makes the final decision. But it gives its decision to the Governor to announce it. I think the judge wanted to freeze the process ASAP, knew that certification had been announced, but didn't know whether there were any additional actions that needed to happen to finalize the certification.

There are questions as to whether the court has jurisdiction over this kind of challenge or whether it should have been filed with the PA Supreme Court. I think we'll know the answer by the end of the day.