Democrats are gearing up to contest any effort made by President Donald Trump to challenge the election results, Axios reports.
Amid Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power and his repeated claims the election results can’t be trusted, the outlet reports Democrats are preparing different strategies to ensure the election process runs smoothly.
"The Biden campaign has assembled the biggest voter protection program in history to ensure the election runs smoothly and to combat any attempt by Donald Trump to create fear and confusion with our voting system, or interfere in the democratic process," Biden campaign spokesman Michael Gwin told Axios.
To do so, Biden campaign officials have put together a team of thousands of lawyers and volunteers to focus on voter protection efforts across the country. They have also set up national and state voter hotlines, according to the campaign.
They are also having Democrat lawyers prepare to fight any attempt by Trump to switch electors chosen by voters with electors selected by Republican-controlled legislatures. Axios notes they are concerned with that possibility taking place in Pennsylvania, where the GOP controls the state house.
Another legal strategy the Democrats are planning for is how to ensure no state recounts are cut short by the Supreme Court. In 2000, the Florida recount was ended early.
The Democrats aren’t the only ones readying their legal arguments. The Trump campaign has already filed lawsuits challenging the use of mail-in ballots in some states.
One Trump campaign source told Axios that their lawyers will litigate when necessary, including filing suits in key states that have changed election laws to allow for an extended period of time to vote or to count ballots.
“There are a lot of options if it turns out that the election results aren’t fair and free,” the source said.
But Trump’s advisers have also warned the president that the Constitution states former Vice President Joe Biden will become president on Jan. 20 if he is elected.
"Trump can say 'I don't concede, I think it's rigged,' but he would not be the president," a Trump legal adviser told Axios.
The Trump campaign told Axios it is focused on the "integrity" of the election.
"The Trump campaign is fighting to ensure every valid ballot across America counts as we work to deliver the free and fair election Americans deserve," said campaign general counsel Matthew Morgan.
A top GOP election lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg said Trump could ask for state recounts and contest the election in states if he finds instances of fraud.
"The biggest concern is that Trump throws the results of the election — and therefore the peaceful transfer of power into doubt — by unsupported rhetoric," he said.
David Rivkin, who served in the White House counsel’s office and Justice Department under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, warned of different situations that could play out. He called them the "Titanic scenario."
He told Axios election results could be disputed in many states with inconsistent opinions on the same legal issues, the Supreme Court could be deadlocked if the vacant seat isn’t filled before the election, or the winner could be left to the House of Representatives to declare.
"It's tremendously dangerous from every perspective," he said.
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