As U.S. President Donald Trump’s approval dips across the country, election workers are bracing for a fight that could test their authority if results do not swing in his favour.
Asked last week if he would respect the results of the midterms, Trump said he would, “if they’re honest elections.”
What the president considers an “honest” result remains unclear. But election workers across the U.S. are tasked with making sure every valid vote is counted, regardless of their own political affiliation.
In the U.S., election administration is largely under the purview of states and local officials, each with different laws and procedures.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has been questioning voter eligibility, alleging illegal registrations and demanding hundreds of ballots be set aside.
“We are bound by state law. And state law really does not give us the authority to do what the federal government is asking us to do,” Mary Hall, election auditor in Thurston County, Wash., told Global News.
On Sunday, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed a lawsuit filed at the direction of the Trump administration to stop the certification of a possible narrow Democratic win in Alaska.
The decision came after the state’s Republican-led state government asked the judge on Saturday to dismiss the lawsuit.
Get daily National news
The Department of Justice had alleged the Democratic senate candidate Mary Peltola recruited a nominee with the same name as incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan to confused voters.
In its Saturday filing, Alaska said the Justice Department’s request to separate all ballots cast for the second Dan Sullivan was “both disturbing and impossible.” It added doing so would violate voter privacy.
The Justice Department says it plans to appeal the decision.
Election officials say targeted claims can undermine voter confidence, even if they have no direct reason to doubt the election.
“There’s 50 different ways that elections work. Rhetoric has that type of effect,” Samantha Alfaro from the Loudoun County Elections Office in Leesburg, Va., told Global News. “Not so much people doubt their own results, it’s other results.”
Trump made similar claims during the 2020 election, which he falsely claimed was “rigged and stolen.”
During the fallout, election workers in Georgia faced threats and intimidation as false accusations of fraud took hold.
But recent polling suggests Trump’s newest accusations may not be bringing in the support he wants.
A new poll from Emerson College released Friday showed the president’s approval rating dipped to 37 per cent, an all-time low.
According to the same poll, Democrats lead Republicans by 10 percentage points in a generic congressional ballot.
Despite the results, election workers say they hold themselves to the standards of accountability and transparency.
“We count every valid vote,” Hall said.
– With files from Global News’ Reggie Cecchini and Sean Previl, and The Associated Press
The liberals of Canada have already sent in their mail-in votes for the US elections. So they are solid votes and won’t be contested.
I wish Canadians would spend more time worrying about what Carney and this Liberal government is doing to our economy than worrying about Trump and the election in the USA. Remember no matter who controls what Trump still has his pen for 2 more years and can still cause a lot of chaos and trouble for Canada unless Carney can get a deal over these tariffs
Democrats have already been caught cheating a few times and it is not even election day yet. They were caught cheating in their primary in Wisconsin.
If the Dem’s can’t cheat, they can’t win. Their voters have been deported.
funny its usually the democrats who send there operatives to riot and destroy to retain the illusion..
Well, looks like ol Trumpy Trump is gearing up for something. All those weapons around Mar A Lago, the ghetto whorehouse of Florida. That freak is going to go to war to hold power, you watch. Would that someone could get close enough to blow his foul pumpkin head off!
Ben you are clueless and naive, but keep talking nonsense it’s hilarious 🤣
The Republicans will stop at nothing to hold on to power, ncluding violence and intimidation….before, during and, especially, after the election.
The problem they are having now is that since the pandemic many states have passed election laws that violate federal election laws.
These laws have not been challenged in the courts yet, and the government will have to sue states to enforce federal law.
Just remember, Kamala won every state that does not have voter ID laws, and she lost every state that has voter ID, every single one.
The amazing part is that there are still people who actually think elections in N America are fair and that there is no cheating going on
The gerrymandered US ranks very low on world democracy indices. Not sure why saying this fact upsets some people.
It wasn’t a lawsuit to prevent Democrats from winning, it was to remove the paid Democrat operative who’s candidacy was already determined not not have been in good faith.
So, nothing new. It’s what they always do. Tight races are always contested in the US.