President Trump falsely claimed victory over Democratic rival Joe Biden with millions of votes still uncounted in a White House race that will not be decided until a handful of states complete vote-counting over the next hours or days reut.rs/3kW5SbL
The premature move confirmed worries Democrats had voiced that Trump would seek to dispute the #Election2020 results. That could set off any number of legal and political dramas in which the presidency could be determined. Here are the various ways the election can be contested👇
⚖️Lawsuits
Early voting data shows Democrats are voting by mail in greater numbers than Republicans. In states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that do not count mail-in ballots until #ElectionDay, initial results appeared to favor Trump because mailed ballots were slower to count
A close election could result in litigation over voting and ballot-counting procedures in battleground states. Cases filed in individual states could eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court reut.rs/38bO49h
🗳️ Electoral College
The U.S. president is not elected by a majority of the popular vote. Under the Constitution, the candidate who wins the majority of 538 electors, known as the Electoral College, becomes the next president. This year, the electors meet on Dec. 14 to cast votes
Battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina all have Democratic governors and Republican-controlled legislatures. It is unclear in this scenario whether Congress should accept the governor’s electoral slate or not count the state’s electoral votes
'Contingent election'
A determination that neither candidate has secured a majority of electoral votes would trigger a 'contingent election' under the 12th Amendment of the Constitution. That means the House of Representatives chooses the next president reut.rs/3oVYEHk
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JUST IN: U.S. economy adds 638,000 jobs in October, unemployment rate falls to 6.9 percent
MORE: U.S. stock index futures pare declines slightly after October nonfarm payrolls report
MORE: U.S. employers hired the fewest workers in five months in October, offering the clearest evidence yet that the end of fiscal stimulus and exploding new COVID-19 infections were sapping economic momentum reut.rs/3l6dpoq
During the election campaign Trump attacked the integrity of the U.S. voting system, alleged voting fraud with no evidence, filed lawsuits and called for at least one state recount. Here's a roundup of recount laws in some battleground states reut.rs/365UlR3 ⬇️ 1/8
Automatic recount: Yes
Recount law: A recount is triggered when the margin of victory between two candidates is less than or equal to 0.1 percentage point
Deadline: There is no set deadline for completion of a recount
Who pays: The state, county or town 2/8
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
#ElectionResults2020: Biden edges closer to victory over Trump as officials tally votes in the handful of states that will determine the outcome reut.rs/32bHuvB
Police in Portland declared riots, arrested 11 people and seized fireworks, hammers and a rifle, as Oregon Governor Kate Brown activated the National Guard in response to protests over the election reut.rs/2JEn5Jc
#ElectionResults2020: Biden edges closer to victory over Trump as officials tally votes in the handful of states that will determine the outcome reut.rs/32bHuvB
🇺🇸 Weary from one of the most bruising U.S. presidential races in modern times, Republican and Democratic voters alike were in a state of high anxiety with the #Election2020 outcome still unsettled a day after polls closed reut.rs/3l1ziFo
🗳️ Michigan ballot counting fight: The campaign of Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit in Michigan to stop the counting of ballots in the presidential election reut.rs/38fm4BE
⚖️ A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Wednesday appeared skeptical of arguments by Republican officials seeking to stop a suburban Philadelphia county from counting mail-in and absentee ballots that voters had been permitted to correct reut.rs/3l4VgaI