Trump Refuses to Concede Election; Seeks Legal Action in Numerous States

Adam Bear, Staff Writer

On November 7, the Associated Press, followed by many other news organizations, called the 2020 Presidential election for Joe Biden. Since this decision, incumbent President Donald Trump has refused to concede the election and has filed numerous lawsuits in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.

In Arizona, which has been called for Biden by most major news sources, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee have filed lawsuits over allegations that ballots would not be counted if they had splotches, stray marks, or bleeds. This lawsuit was dismissed by the Maricopa Country Superior Court. Trump’s campaign has also sued in Arizona seeking the manual inspection of potentially thousands of ballots in the Phoenix metro area that were allegedly mishandled by poll workers. A judge is currently hearing arguments over this suit.

In Michigan, which has also been called for Biden, the Trump campaign is suing over allegations that “illegal and illegible” ballots were counted, and that there was politically-motivated fraud among poll workers in the state.  The campaign has yet to provide evidence to support this claim. Two other Trump lawsuits have already been rejected in Michigan, and a hearing for this current suit has not yet been scheduled.

In Nevada, which has also been called for Biden, the Trump campaign has filed a lawsuit challenging the use of an optical scanning machine to count ballots and verify signatures. This lawsuit is still pending. In addition, officials in Nevada’s Clark County have forwarded two allegations of ballots being cast in the name of dead voters to the Nevada Secretary of State.

In Georgia, which has not been called by any major news source, the Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, has announced an audit of election results that will induce a full hand tally. The tally is expected to finish on November 20.

In Pennsylvania, which has been called for Biden, the Trump campaign and some Trump supporters have filed at least 15 lawsuits over the election, many of which involving mail-in ballots and allegations of voter fraud. Around 10,000 ballots could be at stake under these lawsuits. Most of the lawsuits are pending, and a court date is scheduled for one of them.