2020 Election Litigation Undermines American Democratic Values

By: Aidan Ocampo

Edited by: Claire Lu, Maddie Bennett, and Kirsten Huh

An essential aspect of our democracy, the right to vote, is in jeopardy. The American democracy, sometimes considered a model form of government, was designed in response to a British tyranny that early colonists barely escaped. Centuries later, tyranny once again threatens to dismantle our rights and destroy our principles of democracy. Far before our time, Plato theorized about the potential downfall of the democratic system. In The Republic, Plato writes “the neglect of other things introduces the change in democracy, which occasions a demand for tyranny. [1]” 

Preceding the 2020 presidential election, President Donald Trump continuously made suggestions of voter fraud. In addition to unproven illegal voting, he even downplayed the integrity of mail-in ballots [2][3]. In the midst of a global pandemic, the method of mail-in ballots was a safer way for Americans to exercise their right to vote. Expecting a large number of Americans to utilize this opportunity, President Trump intentionally spread unfounded rumors to undermine their validity and secure his own victory. Simply put, this practice is disenfranchisement as a US President attempted to strip Americans of their vote.

President Trump promised to fight the election results in the courts, claiming he would take it to the Supreme Court [4]. However, his refusal to concede the election by delegitimizing hundreds of thousands of votes has caused irreparable damage to our democracy for years to come. In future elections, politicians unhappy with the results may continue the practice of sowing American distrust in our election systems, a practice that is lethal to our democracy.

Former Vice President Joe Biden managed to pull off an electoral victory by flipping key battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia. Coincidentally, these are the same states that President Trump’s post-election litigation has targeted. Given the number of mail-in ballots, many of these states required days after the Tuesday general election to process and count such ballots. This delay in counting allowed President Trump to sow distrust in the American electoral system. His refusal to accept the results of the election has even warranted criticism from his own party. 

Prominent Republican politician, Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) denounced President Trump’s claims saying he “failed to make even a plausible case of widespread fraud or conspiracy before any court of law, the President has now resorted to overt pressure on state and local officials to subvert the will of the people and overturn the election,” said Romney, a former Republican nominee for president. “It is difficult to imagine a worse, more undemocratic action by a sitting American President [5].” 

Much of the Trump campaign’s post-election litigation depends on alleged claims of inconsistencies in ballot counting – a claim that it has failed to provide evidence to prove. In Pennsylvania, the Trump campaign filed a claim in a US District court that mail-in ballots were given less oversight than in-person ballots [6]. Citing Bush v. Gore, the plaintiffs included that “the right to vote is protected in more than the initial allocation of the franchise. Equal protection applies as well to the manner of its exercise… the State may not, by later arbitrary and disparate treatment, value one person’s vote over that of another [7].” However, the use of Bush v. Gore as precedent is an invalid attempt to justify baseless claims. The Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore pertained to inconsistencies given to ballot counting procedures between different counties in the state of Florida. In Trump’s Pennsylvania case, Donald J. Trump et al. v. Kathy Boockvar et al., No. 20-845 (2020), Trump’s argument pertains to alleged inconsistencies within particular counties, namely Allegheny, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Northampton, and Philadelphia county. Therefore, the alleged inconsistencies within counties does not warrant the use of Bush v. Gore, No. 00-949 (2000), which argued inconsistencies between counties. Additionally, Bush v. Gore was decided by court justices who were aware of its potential precedential consequences, stating in the per curiam, that “Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances, for the problem of equal protection in election processes generally presents many complexities [8].” Thus, the court’s justices did not want this case to be established as precedent for future cases, limiting its ruling to this single instance.

Most of Trump’s election litigation has no legal basis. No matter how hard his legal team searches, there is no legal precedent for overturning election results. In fact, many of his cases have already been shut down in the courts by judges. In the aforementioned Pennsylvania case, district court Judge Brann “wholeheartedly rejected the Trump campaign’s attempt to throw out the Pennsylvania vote [9].” In Judge Brann’s order, he stated “it is not in the power of this Court to violate the Constitution [10].”

Besides few small legal victories [11], Trump’s campaign has been unsuccessful in his larger efforts to overturn the election. The longer he delays the inevitable Biden presidency, the more damage he imposes on our electoral system. The past four years of a Trump administration have already left deep cracks in our democratic foundation, and the next months of litigation could shatter it.

In 2016, Andrew Sullivan wrote for New York Magazine, “In terms of our liberal democracy and constitutional order, Trump is an extinction-level event. It’s long past time we started treating him as such. [12]” Trump’s response to the results of the 2020 general election is direct evidence of this. Four years ago, Sullivan hypothesized on the threat Trump posed to our democracy. Now, it may be too late.

notes:

1. Plato. 2008. “The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Republic,” August 27. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1497/1497-h/1497-h.htm.

2. Andrew Solender. Forbes. October 24. Accessed November 21, 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/10/24/trump-votes-in-person-and-slams-mail-in-voting-as-campaign-urges-voters-to-vote-by-mail/?sh=384f4dfe1ec1.

3. Donald J. Trump. 2016. Twitter. https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/802972944532209664?lang=en.

4. Devin Dwyer. 2020. ABC NEWS. November 4. Accessed November 21, 2020. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-asks-supreme-court-intervene-pennsylvania-vote-count/story?id=74026219.

5. Kyle Feldscher. 2020. CNN Politics. November 20. https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/19/politics/mitt-romney-ben-sasse-trump/index.html.

6. Donald J. Trump et al. v. Kathy Boockbar et al. No. 20-845 (2020). 

7. Donald J. Trump et al. No. 20-845 (2020)

8. George W. Bush et al., Petitioners v. Albert Gore, Jr., et al. No. 00-949 (2000). 

9. Katelyn Polantz and Kevin Bohn. 2020. CNN.com. November 21. Accessed November 21, 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/21/politics/federal-judge-dismisses-trump-pennsylvania-lawsuit/index.html.

10. CNN. 2020. CNN.com. November 21. Accessed November 21, 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/21/politics/pennsylvania-trump-lawsuit-dismissal/index.html.

11. Maryclaire Dale and Alanna Durkin Richer. 2020. APnews.com. Accessed December 17, 2020. https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-campaigns-pennsylvania-lawsuits-b56e0555a2bea650b12f53b979ea7493

12. Andrew Sullivan. 2016. New York Magazine. May 1. Accessed November 1, 2020. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/04/america-tyranny-donald-trump.html.

Bibliography:

CNN. 2020. CNN.com. November 21. Accessed November 21, 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/21/politics/pennsylvania-trump-lawsuit-dismissal/index.html

Dale, Maryclaire, and Richer, Alanna Durkin. 2020. APnews.com. Accessed December 17, 2020. https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-campaigns-pennsylvania-lawsuits-b56e0555a2bea650b12f53b979ea7493

Dwyer, Devin. 2020. ABC NEWS. November 4. Accessed November 21, 2020. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-asks-supreme-court-intervene-pennsylvania-vote-count/story?id=74026219.

Feldscher, Kyle. 2020. CNN Politics. November 20. https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/19/politics/mitt-romney-ben-sasse-trump/index.html.

Illing, Sean. 2016. Vox.com. November 7. Accessed November 21, 2020. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/7/13512960/donald-trump-plato-democracy-tyranny-fascism-2016-elections.

Plato. 2008. The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Republic. August 27. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1497/1497-h/1497-h.htm.

Polantz, Katelyn, and Kevin Bohn. 2020. CNN.com. November 21. Accessed November 21, 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/21/politics/federal-judge-dismisses-trump-pennsylvania-lawsuit/index.html.

Solender, Andrew. 2020. Forbes. October 24. Accessed November 21, 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/10/24/trump-votes-in-person-and-slams-mail-in-voting-as-campaign-urges-voters-to-vote-by-mail/?sh=384f4dfe1ec1.

Sullivan, Andrew. 2016. New York Magazine. May 1. Accessed November 1, 2020. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/04/america-tyranny-donald-trump.html.

Trump, Donald J. 2016. Twitter. https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/802972944532209664?lang=en.