Trump said last night that he'll use the courts to stop counting mail-in votes and declare a winner

[demmiblue]

Link to tweet

Ginsburg's death gives GOP an edge in 2020 legal fights

The first signs of the impact of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s absence may come in a flurry of election-related disputes expected to reach the Supreme Court on an emergency basis in the coming weeks.

Until Friday, Chief Justice John Roberts or other justices had the power to issue or deny emergency relief by joining with the court’s four liberals. It didn’t happen often, but it did sometimes happen.

With the court shorthanded for the time being, the court’s three remaining Democratic appointees would now need two Republican-appointed colleagues to take emergency action.

With scores of court challenges underway across the country seeking or opposing coronavirus-related changes to voting procedures, the change in the ideological balance of the high court could affect the outcome of such fights — even if a new justice doesn’t take the bench until after the election.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/20/ginsburgs-death-gives-gop-an-edge-in-2020-legal-fights-418672

[liberal N proud]

1. He is edging closer and closer to declaring himself dictator

[DownriverDem]

20. What about?

A Fed judge ruled that Michigan mail in ballots post marked 11/2 will be counted. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/09/18/michigan-clerks-must-accept-late-ballots-if-mailed-nov-2-judge-rules/3492245001/

[oldsoftie]

40. If you're mailing in, why the hell would you wait that long to send it?

Certainly there are some reasons why you'd mail-in at the last moment, unforeseen circumstances & such, but the number of those shouldnt total a big number.

If you've decided to mail in, request it early & do it as soon as you get the damn thing

[LisaL]

56. Yep, mailing your ballots early or dropping them in drop boxes is a good idea.

People shouldn't wait until the last minute.

[Iliyah]

2. Proof of why mcturtle is stacking the courts . ..

treason barr approves as well.

[DownriverDem]

21. As repeated often

We were all warned.

[beachbumbob]

3. not going to happen

[Thekaspervote]

36. This! He has nothing else to blabber about, he knows he's going to lose

[Lonestarblue]

63. States control the counting.

If their laws allow for counting ballots postmarked by election day, that’s what they will do. I don’t see how Trump can just stop the counting. Even in 2000, Florida was allowed to continue counting initially.

If the long lines on the first day of voting in Virginia are any indication, many people are choosing to vote in person instead of by mail. The whole issue of mail ballots may be moot if the uncounted ballots will not make a difference in who wins based on the in-person votes. By sabotaging the USPS and making people distrust the mail, Trump may have actually sabotaged his plan to falsely challenge mail ballots because people have decided to vote in person. I know I will—mask on, glasses on, perhaps disposable gloves, and maybe even a hat.

[duforsure]

4. By his own admissions of election tampering

And fraud, he could face legal issues and consequences from doing this.

[CaptYossarian]

18. The Bond villains always showed their hand.

[enough]

5. Trump and the media in a feedback loop fixated on election night and the need to

declare a winner.

[enough]

6. Trump and the media in a feedback loop fixated on election night and the need to

declare a winner immediately.

[pdxflyboy]

7. If he SUCCEEDS in pulling that shit off...

There will probably be a civil war. This nation, and day to day life as we know it, will be finished.

[steve2470]

9. civil war, for sure nt

[steve2470]

8. I think he's full of shit but, if he actually tries this, he will have a real bloody civil war....

in the streets on his hands. People will die over this. People were upset enough over the horrible 2000 SCOTUS decision, but at least that went through the courts and was all " legal ".

[demmiblue]

12. I don't. I think he's is going to do everything under the sun to "win".

Link to tweet

[paleotn]

23. He will certainly try...

How successful it will be remains to be seen. Much of it may amount to crazy shit that gets slapped down by the courts in short order. Plus, we Dems won't get caught flat footed on this again. Biden and crew are ready.

[Thekaspervote]

39. Biden has amassed a team of 600 attorneys to deal with any shenanigans. I think he's got this one

Let him bluster... that’s all he’s got

[jaxexpat]

66. Do the attorneys have "muscle"? They may require body guards.

I don't have any faith in the many forces of uniformed "peace officer" police to side with keeping the election night peaceful.

That pfft sound you hear may be the whole damn thing finally fizzling out.

[dalton99a]

28. +1. That's his game plan.

[BlueJac]

10. Worlds biggest Asshole

[C_U_L8R]

11. Where does it say in the Constitution

that votes must be counted by Election Day night or they don't count?

[steve2470]

14. of course, it does not

I have no idea what sort of legal stuff he could try. I can't imagine the courts cooperating with anything. Call me naive but I think our judiciary is still pretty independent.

The most likely scenario, to me, is that if he's winning at, say, 9 PM EST, he declares victory and then sends his un-badged stormtroopers out to the states with the closest margins to confiscate ballot boxes under some pretext of "protecting the ballots" bullshit. Funny how many Biden ballots are missing once those boxes go back to the states, huh ?

Would the states actually allow that to happen ? I guess it depends on the state, the situation, the governor, and how well-protected the election offices are (besides minimal off-duty cops doing security or paid "rent-a-cops" ).

Let's all hope and pray things don't get that crazy.

[oldsoftie]

38. The military has already said they will not follow unlawful orders.

Most of the generals are NOT on his side this time around.
And there arent enough non-military to carry out such orders, IMO

[Thekaspervote]

41. That's exactly right! We need to stop with advancing his dark unattainable scenarios

I give you this

Following the DC protests when the ninny emerged from his bunker, he said he was going to put 10,000 armed troops on the streets of America. The next week it was 75,000 and then about 10 days later it was 250,000

He was reminded by “the brass” that the military has sworn an oath to protect and defend not harm American civilians! And, it was pointed out we didn’t have that many troops in all of the middle east during the height of the gulf war.

“He’s a fool.” Joe Biden

[Cosmocat]

68. It wont be the military

It will be these "unmarked " groups we gave seen snatch people up at protests, the group of corrections officers they rolled into the DC protest, sherriffs offices run by sheriffs who are far right ...

[SlogginThroughIt]

69. What makes you think that?

Have you polled all the generals?

That isn’t how the military works, and I wouldn’t rely on that. if there is fighting in the streets all bets are off because the military will be used to quell the fighting and then after they are engaged in fighting they will be turned to fighting back.


We are NOT in a good situation.

[oldsoftie]

86. The JCoS Chairman has stated that the military doesnt follow unlawful orders.

States are in control of their own voting & states with Dem governors wont just lay down either. And most battleground states are run by Dem governors

[Tommymac]

17. It doesn't. In the 1800's it took weeks to find out who won. n/t

[RazzleCat]

13. again I yell, VOTE IN PERSON

I exclude people from doing in person for the following

1. You have no paper trail at your polling place.

2. Your state is already a mail in vote state.

3. You are immune compromised to the extent that you do not leave your home at all. If you go get groceries, you can vote.

4. You will lose your income source (job), if you can't get the time in case of long lines.

If you say they moved the polling place, you don't have a car etc. Call your local Democratic Headquarters, they will get you to the polls. Check your local laws, where I live your employer must by law give you time to vote.

I want all mail in voting, but yelling here again, not this election. We have know for a very long time that the plan is to declare victory on the night of the election, based on more Republicans voting in person, followed by using the courts to disallow mail in votes.

[ananda]

16. Yes, I finally decided to vote in person.

Early, which in my area begins Oct 13
when I will show up very early to cast
my votes for Biden and Hegar, among
other good Dems.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

26. +1,000...nt

[rzemanfl]

29. As soon as I get some items out of the washing machine I will

work on your plan.

[oldsoftie]

35. I join you in yelling!!! GO TO THE POLLS!!!!

Defeat him by a huge margin at 9pm!!!

[LisaL]

53. Seriously?

You think you can dictate to people what they should be doing? I don't know you from Adam. Why should I listen to you?

[LisaL]

49. You exclude people? Did somebody die and made you king?

NT

[Ilsa]

59. I'm voting in person, either early or on election day.

I take it that early voting is counted on election day?

[LisaL]

61. Early voting is counted when you vote but results are not released

until after polls are closed as far as I can tell. Many states start counting absentee ballots before the election day, again, not releasing results until polls close.
But the idea that mail in ballots are counted last is simply not true.

[SlogginThroughIt]

70. I said this the other day and got Hammered for it.

I agree completely.

[RazzleCat]

81. I too have said it over & over

Get “called out” but again I cite my post and why it’s so important

[kskiska]

15. "Stop counting the votes"

worked for George W.

[Thekaspervote]

42. Now you know that was an entirely different scenario!

[paleotn]

19. My prediction.....

He loses on election night and screams...."the election isn't over! We've still got ballots to count!" Kind of like Don Ameche in Trading Places. Oh...and the Dems are ready this time. Bring it, shitler!

[oldsoftie]

33. If we all vote in person, thats exactly what will happen. Exposing more hypocrisy.

And I LOVED that scene. Great movie!!

[MrModerate]

22. If Trump tries this...

People will storm the White House, drag Trump out, and string him up in Lafayette Park.

And the Secret Service will stand aside.

[Polybius]

37. They won't stand aside before January 20th

They would never be able to get in the bunker anyway.

[roamer65]

88. Or the rafters of a nearby gas station like Mussolini.

[brush]

24. The fat, orange fuck will still lose. Go for it, trump. See what happens.

[leftyladyfrommo]

25. They can always just turn out the lights and tell him it's over.

He can sit there in the dark until he decides to leave.

Everyone can just totally ignore him. Nothing he says or does makes any difference if no one is listening.

[dalton99a]

27. Newly appointed Trump judges are at the ready awaiting orders

There are over 200 of them

[Thekaspervote]

44. elections are STATE run

[dalton99a]

50. And federal courts often intervene

[LisaL]

54. And what, they will forbid counting mail in ballots?

NT

[SlogginThroughIt]

71. Isn't that what happened in Florida?

[LisaL]

75. No.

They were re-counting regular ballots, not mail in ballots. Hanging chads and so on, remember? Those were in person paper ballots. It didn't have anything to do with mail in vote.

[SlogginThroughIt]

80. Right but they stopped the count

[LisaL]

91. Re-count, not count.

NT

[NoRoadUntravelled]

30. It sounds like he's saying he is in corrupt cahoots with the federal courts.

Phooey. He's insane.

[oldsoftie]

31. As I've said before, if you're physically able to, GO to the polls. Take it from him!

Make the victory apparent when he wants; 11-12pm. THEN he'll be screaming about waiting till the mail-ins are counted.
If the huge majority show up and vote in person instead of mailing, we WILL get a victory that the number of mail-ins cant change.

I just want him defeated THAT NIGHT by 6+ points in every battleground. Then theres nothing he can do or say to deflate that asswhippin'

GO TO THE POLLS. Wear your mask. 99.9% you're not going to get sick.

[LisaL]

45. Yea, great idea during a pandemic.

I am not worried about so called red mirage because it's ridiculous. My state (OH) will start scanning mail in ballots even before election day, so my vote should be counted first, not last.

[SlogginThroughIt]

72. With early voting is it any more dangerous than going the grocery store?

[LisaL]

73. I don't go to a grocery store.

NT

[oldsoftie]

83. Few cases were tied to voting in person in Wisconsin. Its just not a crowded event

If you're in line, you'd be outside in most cases and not in close contact with others. While inside, voting doesnt take long and machines will be distanced.

I'm happy to hear that your state starts scanning before election day; I had wondered how states handled that. But do they keep the tallies private until after 7pm on election day? I would imagine they do

[moonscape]

82. This depends on the state. There's not a universal prescription

for how is best to vote as I see it. If one can deliver a paper ballot to registrar or drop-box in advance, and those are ready to be counted just like in-person, seems that is better than contributing to long lines at the polls, considering how reduced polls places are in so many areas.

Every state is different.

[oldsoftie]

87. Thats a good point. nt

[Illumination]

32. His path of destruction gets larger by the day! Just wait & see where all this gets you...to

the slammer!...

[Polybius]

34. This is one reason why I vote in person

This scares me.

[LisaL]

43. Which is exactly why he is saying this shit.

He wants to scare people from voting by mail.

[Polybius]

48. I will vote in-person no matter what

Early voting or mail-in voting isn't my thing.

[LisaL]

51. Well, I am doing what democratic party of my state wants me to do.

Which is either voting early or voting by mail.
They do not want us waiting for an election day to vote.

[dlk]

46. I'm afraid we haven't seen anything yet

Trump will do absolutely anything to stay in office. He knows what’s waiting for him when his presidency ends.

[LisaL]

47. Why not just sign an "executive order" making himself a president, or rather a king, for

life? If he thinks he can rule by executive order?

[dlk]

57. Trump is so irrational, I wouldn't put anything past him.

As with Republicans in general, he will throw everything up against the wall and see what sticks. It’s amazing how much credibility our impeached president still has.

[LisaL]

58. That's what I am saying.

He clearly doesn't want people to vote by mail, so he will say all kind of things to make people scared to vote by mail.
Voting by mail is the safest thing (health wise) during a pandemic. Obviously he couldn't care less about that.

[dlk]

60. Agreed

[SlogginThroughIt]

74. Hell half the country doesn't believe we are a democracy anyway.

[Arazi]

52. Its federal law that mail in military votes have a full week after Nov 3rd to be counted

He's getting told that today would be my guess. Doubt he wants to piss off vets and the military any more than he has already.

Imo, this will be quietly dropped (but #Traitor isn't a stable genius so I guess we'll see)

[AllaN01Bear]

55. if u can, hand deliver it to your election headquarters .

[bucolic_frolic]

62. Right, Trump is trying to force you to vote in-person on Election Day so he can create chaos

There will be protestors, who knows in certain jurisdiction if police will disperse them, they can clog the entrances, force people to wait outside in the rain where they might give up .... any number of methods for Trump's MAGAts to mess with the election.

Don't accept anything Trump says at face value. Politico double that.

[LisaL]

64. Absolutely.

If people want to vote in person it's best to vote early if state allows it. I wonder what kind of tricks Trump plans for election day?
Trumpers can create quite a mess by just showing up maskless. With flags and open carry guns and what not.

[orangecrush]

65. Voting in person

Men and Women died to give me the right.

If I go, so be it.

If my vote makes the difference in keeping this asshole from becoming a dictator, it's worth it.

[Vinca]

67. Well, thanks for the evidence for the court case, Donnie.

[BlueLucy]

76. Well, there is precedent.. 2000

I talked about this a few days ago and some here on DU accused me of talking negative.

[LisaL]

90. 2000 stopped re-counting, not counting.

It also didn't have anything to do with absentee voting. Those were regular paper ballots being recounted.

[yuiyoshida]

77. So if Biden wins in a landslide which I hope he does

Than Trump will question the legitimacy of the Election and say all those votes were actually fo him? Uh...no.

[DallasNE]

78. Keep In Mind

That if Roberts would side with the 3 liberals for a 4-4 split it would revert back to how the Appeals court ruled. Indeed, Trump is wanting to side-step the Appeals court and go directly to the Supreme Court. This might be a road block to Trump's efforts on that count.

Also, the courts may not like Trump pushing them around like he has been doing, like saying he will use the courts to declare him the winner. Stepping over the line like that should produce push back.

[Squidly]

92. This is why they want to ramrod his appointee through

to avoid the scenario where Roberts sides with the libs

[Scalded Nun]

79. Do not give them the chance

Vote as early as possible. In-person is best. Mail-in if that is not possible.

But, again, do it as early as possible.

Do not listen to those saying "They cannot do this" or "It cannot happen". 'They might' and 'it might' can turn into 'damn, they sure enough did' and 'damn, it sure enough did'...and then it will be too late. I do not know if this country can survive another 4 years of this evil.

Take this possible scenario off the table.

[spanone]

84. Like fuck he will.

[roamer65]

85. Just keep counting, states.

Ignore any rulings to stop by federal courts.

Make them send in the FBI to stop it.

All hell will then break loose.

[BlueWavePsych]

89. Resistance sees military removing Trump from office

Recently, two retired Army officers speculated about deploying a brigade from the 82nd Airborne Division to overpower Trump's "private army" that they believe the defeated president will use to try to cling to office. Another retired officer, a former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, imagined the military in battle with armed Trump supporters, the result being that "all bets are off as to how much blood might flow."

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/coup-porn-resistance-sees-military-removing-trump-from-office