Current:Home > MyCourts could see a wave of election lawsuits, but experts say the bar to change the outcome is high -TrueNorth Capital Hub
Courts could see a wave of election lawsuits, but experts say the bar to change the outcome is high
View
Date:2025-04-15 01:24:39
WASHINGTON (AP) — When the Supreme Court stepped into the 2000 presidential race, Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore were separated by a razor-thin margin. The court’s decision to halt the recount of votes in Florida effectively delivered the election to Bush and shaped the nation’s future.
The case is perhaps the most notable modern example of the judicial branch having a direct involvement after an election, but it’s not the only time judges have been drawn into postelection disputes.
America’s court system has no formal role in the election process, and judges generally try not to get involved because they don’t want to be seen as interfering or shaping a partisan outcome, said Paul Schiff Berman, a professor at George Washington University Law School.
But election disputes have increasingly landed in court since Bush v. Gore, Berman said.
This year could be especially contentious, coming after more than 60 unsuccessful lawsuits where then-President Donald Trump falsely claimed that he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden due to massive voter fraud. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed this year, mostly concerning relatively small matters.
“We have a long history in this country of a democratic process that operates in a nonpartisan manner with regard to vote counting that does not require constant court intervention, but that norm has been shattered in the same way that many of our democratic norms have been shattered since 2016,” Berman said.
Court cases could start election night over whether to keep polling places open if they experienced trouble affecting access during the day.
After the votes are all cast, lawsuits over the vote count could be next. That could involve claims about the counting of certain ballots, allegations against the election officials overseeing the count, disputes over the methodology or challenges to the certification of the vote totals in each state.
There could be lawsuits over recent updates to the Electoral Count Act, which governs the certification of the presidential contest. The revisions were passed by Congress in 2022 in response to Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 results by pressuring his vice president, Mike Pence, over congressional certification of the states’ electors.
How much a lawsuit might affect the outcome of an election depends on how many votes are in dispute and what kind of a solution a judge might order if a problem is found. In some cases, “It isn’t clear what the remedy would be if these suits were successful,” said Steven Schneebaum, an attorney and adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University.
If the 2024 race is very close, court rulings could affect the outcome, especially in the swing states that will be key to the election. But for a lawsuit to affect the race, the election would have to be so close that the court would have to determine how people voted or one side would have to prove a major, fundamental problem with how it was run, said Rick Hasen, an elections expert and law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
“The standard to overturn an election is extremely high, for good reason,” he said. “We want elections to be decided by voters, not courts.”
____
What to know about the 2024 Election
- Today’s news: Follow live updates from the campaign trail from the AP.
- Ground Game: Sign up for AP’s weekly politics newsletter to get it in your inbox every Monday.
- AP’s Role: The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Learn more.
Read more about how U.S. elections work at Explaining Election 2024, a series from The Associated Press aimed at helping make sense of the American democracy. The AP receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
veryGood! (18)
Related
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Suspect in deadly Northern California stabbings declared mentally unfit for trial
- Biden jokes he can relate with Astros' Dusty Baker, oldest manager to win World Series
- What to know about Ohio's Issue 1 ahead of the crucial August 8 special election
- Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
- Mega Millions jackpot estimated at record $1.55 billion for Tuesday's drawing
- Arkansas governor names Hudson as Finance and Administration secretary
- Jada Pinkett Smith Shares Update on Her Hair Journey Amid Alopecia Battle
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- South Korea evacuating World Scout Jamboree site as Typhoon Khanun bears down
Ranking
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Indiana teacher with ‘kill list’ of students, staff sentenced to 2½ years on probation
- Stormy weather across northern Europe kills at least 1 person, idles ferries and delays flights
- Horoscopes Today, August 7, 2023
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Cost of Missouri abortion-rights petition challenged in court again
- U.S. publishing boss Adrienne Vaughan killed in terrible speedboat crash in Italy
- North Carolina state budget won’t become law until September, House leader says
Recommendation
At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
Liberty University Football Star Tajh Boyd Dead at 19
New Google alert will tell you when you appear in search, help remove personal information
South Korea evacuating World Scout Jamboree site as Typhoon Khanun bears down
Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
'That's so camp': What the slang and aesthetic term means, plus its place in queer history
Arkansas governor names Hudson as Finance and Administration secretary
4-year-old Michigan girl struck and run over by golf cart after fire department's dog lies down on vehicle's gas pedal