The Trump campaign is going back 20 years and trying to use the Supreme Court's Bush v. Gore decision to help it fight mail-in voting for the November election on the basis of voter fraud.
CNN reported Monday that the controversial 2000 presidential election, which was marred by a closely watched recount in Florida, could soon be back in the news.
President Donald Trump and his team say that mail-in voting, which Democrats are pushing for because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will lead to voter fraud. For weeks, Trump has claimed the U.S. Postal Service won't be able to handle the millions of ballots that would need to be delivered to homes and then picked up, sorted, and delivered to election officials for counting.
Bush v. Gore ended in a 5-4 decision that halted the Florida recount and handed George W. Bush the win in the Sunshine State, which handed him the Electoral College votes he needed to become president over Democrat Al Gore.
In citing Bush v. Gore, according to CNN, the campaign is arguing that suspect ballots should not be counted — which could be a substantial number, some Republicans say, if voting by mail is a widespread practice. That tactic could disqualify enough votes for Trump to defeat Democrat Joe Biden.
Some Republicans, however, are not in line with Trump's assertion that voting by mail could lead to fraud. Several state Republican Parties are touting the practice as a safe method of casting a ballot, both from a health standpoint and from keeping the vote secure.
"Vote-by-mail really works well here in Utah," said Justin Lee, Utah's director of elections under the state's Republican administration. "We do feel it's safe and secure. We don't feel there are any real instances of either widespread fraud or voter disenfranchisement."