This series of stories first appeared in the Sapulpa Times Print Edition for November 8th, 2020. Visit our Digital Editions to download the full issue.
Biden sets new record in votes cast for any presidential candidate
Former Vice President Joe Biden broke the record previously held by Barack Obama for the most votes cast for a presidential candidate, surpassing 70,330,000 votes on Wednesday afternoon. At the time, votes for Biden represented 50.19% of the total number of votes counted so far. As of press time, that number has increased to 75,029,323 but has lowered by percentage to 50.6% as more votes continued to count towards Trump, who now stands at 70,705,594.
In a televised statement on Saturday evening, Biden said “The people of this nation have spoken. They have delivered a victory.”
Later, he stated “I’m humbled by the trust and confidence you’ve placed in me. My hope as president is not to divide, but to unify.”
Biden says that his primary task is now to begin the process of healing the country. “I sought this office to restore America. To make America respected around the world, again.”
He went on to thank the poll workers. “You deserve a special thanks. You’ve done so much to make this moment possible. I owe you. I owe you everything.”
Trump responds: “Legal votes decide who is president, not the news media”
Almost immediately after Biden had been declared the winner by major news media outlets on Saturday, President Trump responded with a staunch reminder that the election isn’t really over, yet.
“Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor. In Pennsylvania, for example, our legal observers were not permitted meaningful access to watch the counting process. Legal votes decide who is president, not the news media.
“Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated. The American People are entitled to an honest election: that means counting all legal ballots, and not counting any illegal ballots. This is the only way to ensure the public has full confidence in our election. It remains shocking that the Biden campaign refuses to agree with this basic principle and wants ballots counted even if they are fraudulent, manufactured, or cast by ineligible or deceased voters.”
Despite the mainstream media’s rush to declare a winner, pending litigation may be a contributing factor in reassessing that matter, or in confirming it.
A sampling of court cases that have been activated by the Trump campaign include:
Arizona – correct “mismatched” signatures. An Arizona judge originally ruled to permit voters to sign their ballots up to five days after the election, or to correct “mismatched” signatures (ie, the ones that didn’t match the ones on file). A federal appeals court overturned this ruling, removing the five-day grace period.
Georgia – restore the ballot deadline, and ballot storage issues. Georgia’s Republican party and teh RNC filed a lawsuit to return the Peach State’s absentee ballot deadline to 7 p.m. on election day, rather than an original ruling which permitted mail-in ballots which arrived by November 6th, so long as they were postmarked November 3rd or before.
An additional lawsuit was filed alleging that absentee ballots recieved after 7 p.m. on Election Day were not stored in a way that would prevent them from being processed and counted. The lawsuit, which was filed late on Wednesday, says that such inaction “harms the interest of the Trump campaign and … could lead to the dilution of legal votes cas in support of President Trump.”
Michigan – ballot deadlines and access to counting. The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Republicans who petitioned to establish Election Day as the deadline for all ballots, including absentee ballots. And additional suit alleges that credentialed “election challengers” (also known as poll watchers) were denied access to the counting board the absent voter ballot review process.
Minnesota – ballot deadline. An original lawsuit meant to challenge the state’s ruling to allow absentee ballots after election day failed, but was appealed, with the deadline of Election Day set for absentee ballots.
Pennsylvania – ballot deadline. A Supreme Court ruling had directed Pennsylvania election officials to separate ballots received after Election Day, and if they count them, to count them separately. There was also a petition filed to request closer observation of the canvassing of a ballot, but that petition was denied by the Court of Common Pleas of Philiadelphia County on Election Day.
Additional litigation has been filed in Nevada, Texas and Wisconsin.
Kamala Harris set to become first woman VP and more
Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, is not only the first woman to be elected Vice President, but also the first woman of Indian descent, and also the first woman of African descent to be elected to the White House if the projections made by the mainstream media hold true.
Harris was chosen by Biden to be his running mate after ending her campaign for president in 2019.
