Lawrence Douglas on what happens if Trump rejects the election result
American law is vague on handling a contested presidential election, and where it’s clear it will enrage both sides
By Lawrence Douglas
This guest commentary is part of a series on American election integrity
IT IS NOVEMBER 3RD 2020, election day in America. And a mess of unprecedented gravity is brewing.
Americans follow results much as they watch the Super Bowl: they expect to know the winner before they turn off their televisions. But this time, with tens of millions of mail-in ballots still to be counted, television anchors note that it may take days, even weeks, to announce a winner. This, they insist, is not a sign that the system is malfunctioning but a consequence of an election during a pandemic.
From the White House, however, a different message emerges. Early election returns show President Donald Trump leading in the swing states. This is unsurprising given that the overwhelming majority of Mr Trump’s supporters have chosen to vote in person, whereas a greater share of Joe Biden’s supporters, who tend to live in urban areas more vulnerable to the spread of covid-19, have voted by mail-in ballot.
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