The Vote
 

  

Tomorrow is Election Day. Here's the news that you'll want to know:

(1) post-Election Day legal challenges seem increasingly likely, as President Trump tells reporters: "We're going in with our lawyers"

 

(2) Pennsylvania governor reportedly star of new ad that will run this week and tell voters election results "may take a little longer than we're used to"

 

(3) more than 93 million Americans have voted already -- roughly 68% of all votes cast in 2016, on track for highest voter turnout since 1908

Get ready for legal challenges after the election, as President Trump tells reporters: "We're going to go in [the] night of, as soon as that election is over, we're going in with our lawyers."

"To handle this and other legal matters, Trump’s campaign has formed what it has called 'Lawyers for Trump,' a coalition to 'protect the integrity' of the election. The coalition is being led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, as well as California Committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon and former Deputy White House Counsel Stefan Passantino. The group includes prominent Trump-allied attorneys like former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, former Attorney General Ed Meese and the president's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani." (Fox News)

Read the full story on Fox News

What's happening:

 

• Post-election legal challenges have long been expected. The Biden campaign is reportedly even fundraising to "pre-fund" their legal strategy.

 

• Yesterday, President Trump told reporters "we're going in with our lawyers" as the polls close on Election Day. 

 

And as the Trump campaign's general counsel told Fox News: "Democrats are working to shred election integrity measures one state at a time, and there’s no question they’ll continue their shenanigans from now to November and beyond. The Trump campaign is fighting to ensure every valid ballot across America counts – once."

 

• To give you a sense of the types of cases that may be involved: today a federal judge is overseeing a case that challenges 127,000 votes cast in Texas. The U.S. Supreme Court may also rule on the deadline for absentee ballots in Pennsylvania.

 

What's at stake: The 2020 election. Legal challenges could delay and/or substantially change vote counts, which could be important in battleground states with narrow margins.

 

We'll continue to keep you posted as this story develops, both on Election Day and after.

More you'll want to see from around the web

-- how federal and state governments are working together to prevent election-related cyberattacks

 

-- the New York Times released a poll that shows support by voters' first names

 

-- Biden's weekend campaigning is full of gaffes

 

-- Facebook restored a pro-Trump group after President Trump's tweet

Pennsylvania governor reportedly star of new ad that will run this week and tell voters election results "may take a little longer than we're used to."

"'These are unprecedented times. Because of the coronavirus, there were millions of votes cast by mail, so it may take longer than usual to count every vote. The folks in our election offices — your neighbors, family and friends, are working hard ensuring every single vote is counted,' says Wolf in the ad, according to CNN. 'So it may take a little longer than we're used to, even a few days, but that's okay,' he reportedly continues, adding: 'because it's critical that your vote is counted — and it will be.'" (The Hill)

Read the full story on The Hill

What's happening: 

 

• As we first shared in August, there's long been an expectation that the presidential race won't be called on election night, as it has been in most previous years.

 

As Newsmax reported in August, Federal Election Commissioner Ellen Weintraub said "there is a 'substantial chance' that the nation won't know on election night what the final results will be, even possibly for the presidential race, but 'that's OK.'"

 

• Now the Pennsylvania governor is reportedly bringing a similar message to his state in an ad slated to be released tomorrow. In the ad, he's reported to say, "So it may take a little longer than we're used to, even a few days, but that's okay."

 

• Although all states are likely affected by vote-tallying delays compared to previous years, Pennsylvania has extra context on this issue.

 

The Supreme Court declined to rule before Election Day on whether Pennsylvania can accept mail-in ballots up to three days after the election. However, it may rule after the election, and the state will keep separate ballots that are received after Election Day, November 3.

 

What's at stake:

 

• First, and most important, every valid vote should be counted.

 

• Election and government officials have tried to prepare Americans to not know the results of the presidential election tomorrow night. In total, 68% of Americans don't think we'll know the winner on November 3rd.

 

• Given the increased uncertainty this year, we'll continue to bring you updates as these stories develop, on Election Day and after.

More than 93 million Americans have voted already -- roughly 68% of all votes cast in 2016 and on track for highest voter turnout since 1908.

"Americans have cast a record-breaking 93 million early ballots as of Sunday afternoon, putting the 2020 election on track for historic levels of voter turnout. That's almost twice as many pre-election votes as were cast in the 2016 election, according to the U.S. Elections Project, a turnout-tracking database run by University of Florida professor Michael McDonald. [...] 'We continue to pile on votes at a record pace. We've already passed any raw number of early votes in any prior election in U.S. history,' McDonald told NPR on Oct. 26." (NPR)

Read the full story on NPR

What's happening:

 

• More than 93 million Americans have voted already, ahead of Election Day tomorrow. The large increase in early voting is no surprise given the changes this year due to COVID. The total number of votes cast already in 2020 is approximately 68% of all votes cast in 2016.

 

• Professor Michael McDonald of the University of Florida predicts that at least 150 million Americans will vote this year, according to NPR. That would be a voter turnout rate of 65%, the highest in America since 1908.

 

What's at stake:

 

• First, it's good news to see so many Americans voting -- especially since 2020 brought unusual challenges with it due to COVID.

 

• Second, this may indicate two factors for when we will learn the results --

 

1] As Prof. McDonald noted, the large amount of early voting could indicate that it's "spreading out the workload for election officials," which should help states process vote tallies more quickly.

 

2] But it also underscores why we'll likely be waiting to learn the final vote: there are a large amount of ballots that will have to be processed and counted as many Americans relied on absentee, early, or mail-in voting in this unusual year.

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