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US election 2020: Trump vows court fight over Pennsylvania absentee votes

President Donald Trump and his re-election campaign are signalling they will pursue an aggressive legal strategy to try to prevent Pennsylvania from counting mailed ballots that are received in the three days after the election.

AP

If Pennsylvania ballot-counting takes several days, as is allowed, President Trump says that "cheating can happen like you have never seen."

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Trump talks legal action, Biden on attack in 2020 finale

President Donald Trump has cast doubt in advance on Tuesday's election results, while Democratic challenger Joe Biden has pushed ahead on the charge on the final full day of campaigning ahead of a gripping election conclusion.

Trump assailed a decision that allows Pennsylvania’s elections officials to count mailed ballots that are received in the three days after Tuesday’s election.

He blamed the US Supreme Court, which refused to block the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision. Pennsylvania’s top court ordered the extension until November 6, even if the ballot doesn't have a clear postmark, as long as there is no proof it was mailed after the polls closed.

Addressing a campaign rally on Monday at the airport in Avoca in battleground Pennsylvania – where both candidates campaigned on Monday – Trump called the situation “very dangerous, and I mean dangerous, physically dangerous.”

He argued that “you can’t extend dates” and claimed — without evidence — that cheating goes on in the Democratic stronghold of Philadelphia.

Trump has said that once the polls close Tuesday, “we’re going in with our lawyers” to try to stop Pennsylvania from counting the mailed ballots received after the election.

Biden dipped into Ohio, a show of confidence in a state that Trump won by 8 percentage points four years ago. He focused on the central message of his campaign: that Trump cost lives by mismanaging America's response to the worst pandemic in a century.

"Donald Trump is not strong, he's weak," Biden declared in Cleveland. "This is a president who not only doesn’t understand sacrifice, he doesn't understand courage."

Republicans lose bid to toss Texas votes

A federal judge in Texas has denied a bid by Republicans to toss more than 127,000 votes already cast at drive-through voting sites in Houston, a Democratic-leaning area.

The Texas Supreme Court rejected a similar request by the same plaintiffs, including conservative activist Steve Hotze.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to hundreds of challenges over how people can cast their ballots in the showdown between President Trump and Democratic challenger Biden.

A record 93 million Americans have voted early in the presidential election, data on Monday showed.

US District Judge Andrew Hanen in Houston said Republicans seeking to toss votes already cast at drive-through voting sites in the Houston area lacked standing to bring the case.

The lawsuit was brought on Wednesday by Hotze, a conservative activist, and state Representative Steve Toth, among others.

Dow ends up 1.6 percent ahead of election

Wall Street stocks have climbed on the eve of the pivotal US election, winning back a fraction of last week's rout that marked the worst week and month since March.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average led the major indices, advancing 1.6 percent to finish the day at 26,925.05.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.2 percent to close at 3,310.24, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index increased 0.4 percent to 10,957.61.

The market experienced a fairly quiet session with no sudden shifts ahead of the finale of a contentious US presidential contest.

Besides the election, this week's calendar includes a Federal Reserve meeting and the October US jobs report.

Polls show challenger Biden leading President Trump, but political analysts say a Trump victory is still possible and the final outcome may not be clear on Tuesday night or even on Wednesday.

A win by Biden and a Democratic takeover of the Senate could position the US to enact a generous fiscal stimulus package, a positive for stocks; but such an outcome also would increase the odds of higher corporate taxes, a headwind for Wall Street.

Analysts attributed Monday's gains to bargain-hunting after the October pullback rather than to pre-election manoeuvring.

US business leaders urge calm, brace for mayhem around election

US business leaders have called for calm following Tuesday's election even as they brace for potential trouble on the streets and inside their companies in case of a disputed result.

The fears were highlighted in many US cities where retail stores were being boarded up, as some key executives expressed concerns about public reaction.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg last week warned of the potential for civil unrest as votes are tallied in a US election that will be "a test" for the social network.

American companies are striving to maintain the appearance of political neutrality while they ramp up security and watch for clashes between employees with conflicting political views in an election so hotly fought it is at a flashpoint.

The risk appears heightened amid concerns that President Trump may challenge the validity of the results of the race against Democrat Biden.

"This has been a difficult election for a lot of companies to navigate," Control Risks associate director Allison Wood told AFP news agency.

The business risk consulting firm has seen an uptick in requests for additional security, both armed and unarmed.

While retailers have been most interested in the potential of looting or rioting, operations with around-the-clock shift workers are worried about trouble in the streets preventing employees from showing up, according to Wood.

Companies are also worried that polarising political themes fueling conflict in the streets will ignite clashes on factory floors or in other facilities.

Monday, November 2, 2020

US surpasses 95 million early ballots

More than 95 million Americans have cast their votes in the 2020 presidential election, according to a tally by the US Elections Project at the University of Florida, a harbinger of what is expected to be the highest turnout of modern times.

Just a day before Election Day, the record-breaking number is equal to 69 percent of the entire voter turnout for the 2016 election.

A sharp increase in mail-in and early in-person voting was largely prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 230,000 people in the United States and continues unabated in many US states.

A large number of Trump's Republican supporters are expected to turn up in person to vote on Election Day after Trump sowed distrust, without evidence, of mail-in voting by asserting it was riddled with fraud.

Democrats have largely embraced early voting, not only because of the pandemic, but also because of steps the Trump administration has taken to slow down the processing of US mail.

Experts predict turnout will easily surpass the 138 million who voted in 2016.

Only 47 million votes were submitted before Election Day four years ago.

Biden looks to restore and expand Obama administration policies

Joe Biden has promised to take the country on a very different path from what it has seen over the past four years under President Donald Trump, on issues ranging from the coronavirus and health care to the environment, education and more.

The Democratic presidential nominee is promising to reverse Trump policy moves on things such as withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement and weakening protections against environmental pollution.

While Trump wants to kill the Affordable Care Act, Biden is proposing to expand “Obamacare” by adding a public option to cover more Americans.

Bidens looks to maintain Obama policy on issues of economy, taxes and the debt, coronavirus pandemic, health care, immigration, foreign policy and national security, environment, education, abortion, social security, guns, veterans, as well as trade.

Trump decries FBI probe of supporters surrounding Biden bus

President Donald Trump has suggested the FBI should stop investigating an incident in which his supporters were seen surrounding a Biden campaign bus in Texas, which led Democrats to cancel an event there.

The president’s tweet came hours after the FBI confirmed that it was “aware of the incident and investigating.”

On Sunday night, Trump retweeted a screenshot of the FBI statement, adding, “In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong. Instead, the FBI & Justice should be investigating the terrorists, anarchists, and agitators of ANTIFA, who run around burning down our Democrat run cities and hurting our people!”

An FBI spokesperson said the bureau had no comment about the president’s tweet.

Trump’s tweet come as tensions remained high between the president and FBI Director Christopher Wray, and as Trump has pressed the Justice Department and FBI to act against his rivals, including Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden himself.

The president has also told people around him that he is frustrated with Wray over the FBI director’s public statements on issues like voting fraud, Russian election interference and antifa, and has discussed the possibility of removing Wray if he wins re-election.

Trump stumps in Midwest, Biden in Pennsylvania

Two days before Election Day, President Donald Trump has sprinted across US battleground states with appearances in Iowa and Michigan as he seeks to rally past Democratic challenger Joe Biden, who in pivotal Pennsylvania has implored his supporters to turn out to vote.

Trump, aiming to avoid becoming the first incumbent president to lose a re-election bid since fellow Republican George W Bush in 1992, has a frenetic schedule for Sunday, with stops also planned in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

Biden leads in national opinion polls though the race is seen as close in enough battleground states that Trump could achieve the 270 votes needed to win in the state-by-state Electoral College that determines the overall victor.

The former vice president made the latest in a series of appearances in closely contested Pennsylvania, the state where he was born.

Buffeted by snow flurries in Washington, a town north of Detroit, in his first appearance of the day Trump wore his trademark red cap emblazoned with the words "Make America Great Again" and was bundled up in an overcoat as he addressed a boisterous crowd on a cold and blustery morning.

After the crowd loudly chanted, "We love you" Trump responded, "I love you, too. If I didn't, I wouldn't be standing here because it's freezing out here."

"You better get out there and vote," Trump told the crowd.

Trump predicted he would repeat his 2016 victory in Michigan and touted his efforts to create auto jobs, a key issue for the auto manufacturing state.

Biden's lead widens in Rust Belt

Democrat Joe Biden's lead over US President Donald Trump has widened a little in the final days of the 2020 campaign in three critical Rust Belt states that Trump narrowly won four years ago, according to Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls.

Biden leads Trump by 10 percentage points in Wisconsin and Michigan, and the presidential nominee is ahead by seven points in Pennsylvania.

Biden has led Trump in all three states in every Reuters/Ipsos weekly poll that began in mid-September, and his leads have ticked higher in each state over the past two weeks.

Reuters/Ipsos is polling likely voters in six states – Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona – that will play critical roles in deciding whether Trump wins a second term in office or if Biden ousts him.

White House, US's top virus doctor clash ahead of election

The health situation is deteriorating in the United States, which is gearing up for a major election showdown between President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden on Tuesday.

Already the worst-affected country with 230,586 deaths, it also registered 776 new fatalities on Saturday, the largest number in the world, according to an AFP tally from official sources.

Top government scientist Anthony Fauci told the Washington Post in an interview that the US is "in for a whole lot of hurt."

"All the stars are aligned in the wrong place," he said.

White House spokesperson Judd Deere gave a scathing response.

"It's unacceptable and breaking with all norms for Dr Fauci, a senior member of the President's Coronavirus Taskforce and someone who has praised President Trump’s actions throughout this pandemic, to choose three days before an election to play politics," he said in a statement.

Democrat Gary Peters maintains lead in Michigan US Senate race

Democratic US Senator Gary Peters of Michigan leads his Republican challenger, John James, by seven points with days to go before an election that will determine which party controls the Senate, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.

About 12 competitive US Senate races are up for grabs in next Tuesday's election, 10 with vulnerable Republican incumbents and two with vulnerable Democrats. To have a majority in the Senate, Democrats need to pick up three seats if the party wins the White House, which gives the vice president a tie-breaking vote, and four if not.

Pre-election virus spike creates concerns for polling places

A surge in coronavirus cases across the country, including in key presidential battleground states, is creating mounting health and logistical concerns for voters, poll workers, and political parties ahead of Election Day.

In Iowa, where both presidential campaigns are competing feverishly, county officials said they were preparing for scores of confirmed or potentially infected people to vote curbside. It’s an option typically used by disabled people that must be available outside every polling place.

Linn County Supervisor Stacey Walker, in Cedar Rapids, encouraged people to cast their ballot but said they should take safety precautions at polling places to protect themselves and their neighbours.

In Wisconsin, Governor Tony Evers sought to assure voters in the critical swing state that going to the polls would not be risky, even as officials announced more than 5,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday.

Texan Republicans lose bid to halt drive-through voting

A group of Texas Republicans has lost one of two legal challenges they brought in the hope of halting drive-through voting in Houston and having more than 120,000 votes thrown out.

In a brief order issued on Sunday, the Texas Supreme Court denied a request by conservative activist Steven Hotze and others for an order that drive-through voting violates Texas election law.

A nearly identical case brought by the same plaintiffs is pending in federal court. The judge assigned to that case has scheduled an emergency hearing for Monday morning.

"Tomorrow we will be in front of a federal judge who will have an opportunity to review the federal claims we have asserted," Jared Woodfill, a lawyer for Hotze, said in an e-mail.

Woodfill added that his clients may eventually take their fight to the US Supreme Court.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies