Interrogative - how would running out the clock help Mr Trump? Especially if there is no certified winner by Jan 20, then the House Speaker becomes POTUS?
The Electoral College votes on December 14. That's what really matters- and what determines who is sworn in on January 20, regardless of anything going on with the popular vote. Here's my understanding of the nuts and bolts of the process to get there:
When you vote in a presidential election, you aren't voting directly to seat a slate of electors. You're voting to tell your state legislature which slate of electors you want them to seat - the Republican slate or the Democrat slate, chosen by the state party delegates at their respective conventions.
First the popular vote gets certified by local election officials and the secretary of state. From there, it goes to the state legislature. They can vote to certify it (and therefore seat the slate of electors who the voters chose), or they can vote not to certify it, in which case the popular vote in that state is thrown out entirely and the legislature chooses their own slate of electors. This almost happened in Florida in 2000, but SCOTUS ruled for Bush on the same day that the Florida legislature was scheduled to vote.
All of the states the Trump team is contesting have Republican-controlled state legislatures. If the courts run out the clock, it will cast enough doubt on the results that those legislatures might vote against certifying the popular vote and move to seat their own slate of electors.
In Arizona and Georgia, there are also Republican Governors who would likely approve this move, bringing Trump's electoral vote total to 259.
Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Nevada have Democrat Governors who would not sign off on the legislatures' move to seat new electors. If the clock runs out in those states -no agreement reached between the Republican legislature and the Democrat Governor before December 14- then those states don't send electors.
That makes the electoral college vote total 259 Trump - 227 Biden. Because no one has 270, it goes to the House of Representatives, where a candidate needs the approval of 26 state delegations to win.
If they run the clock out they get fucked too. Go get em Rudy!
Interrogative - how would running out the clock help Mr Trump? Especially if there is no certified winner by Jan 20, then the House Speaker becomes POTUS?
The Electoral College votes on December 14. That's what really matters- and what determines who is sworn in on January 20, regardless of anything going on with the popular vote. Here's my understanding of the nuts and bolts of the process to get there:
When you vote in a presidential election, you aren't voting directly to seat a slate of electors. You're voting to tell your state legislature which slate of electors you want them to seat - the Republican slate or the Democrat slate, chosen by the state party delegates at their respective conventions.
First the popular vote gets certified by local election officials and the secretary of state. From there, it goes to the state legislature. They can vote to certify it (and therefore seat the slate of electors who the voters chose), or they can vote not to certify it, in which case the popular vote in that state is thrown out entirely and the legislature chooses their own slate of electors. This almost happened in Florida in 2000, but SCOTUS ruled for Bush on the same day that the Florida legislature was scheduled to vote.
All of the states the Trump team is contesting have Republican-controlled state legislatures. If the courts run out the clock, it will cast enough doubt on the results that those legislatures might vote against certifying the popular vote and move to seat their own slate of electors.
In Arizona and Georgia, there are also Republican Governors who would likely approve this move, bringing Trump's electoral vote total to 259.
Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Nevada have Democrat Governors who would not sign off on the legislatures' move to seat new electors. If the clock runs out in those states -no agreement reached between the Republican legislature and the Democrat Governor before December 14- then those states don't send electors.
That makes the electoral college vote total 259 Trump - 227 Biden. Because no one has 270, it goes to the House of Representatives, where a candidate needs the approval of 26 state delegations to win.
Republicans control 27. Trump wins.