Election legal battles & fraud claims

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Some Palm Beach County ballots are reissued after misspelling Tim Walz’s name​

The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections said Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president, was misspelled as “Tom” Walz in some ballots that were emailed to overseas voters last Friday.

“The error was isolated to 257 electronic ballots,” the Florida county’s elections supervisor Wendy Sartory Link, a Democrat, said in a statement to CNN.
 

The [new Georgia hand-count] rules will almost certainly not hamstring the certification of Georgia’s electoral votes. And even if certification is delayed, such delays do not open up a legal loophole for Trump to overturn the election.

“…
To be sure, commentary and reporting on the “reasonable inquiry” rule has been informed by what proponents of the rule might be trying to accomplish. The petitioner who submitted the proposed rule, Michael Heekin, is a Republican member of the elections board in Fulton County. Shortly before Heekin submitted his petition to the State Election Board, he voted against certifying the state’s primary results. Later, during his testimony before the State Election Board, Heekin stated that the rule “makes it clear that [certification] is not a ministerial act.”

But the “reasonable inquiry” rule adopted by the State Election Board does not—indeed, cannot—give local election officials the power to delay certification beyond the statutory deadline set out in Georgia state code.

To understand why, begin with a fundamental premise: The State Election Board, as an administrative body, simply does not have the authority to expand the powers of a county board. Georgia statutory law, not the board’s administrative rules, establish the powers and duties of local election officials. The State Election Board can only promulgate rules insofar as those rules are authorized by and consistent with the statute. If there’s a conflict between the two, the statute trumps the rules. …”

A lot of analysis of the new rules here — short version, even if they survive litigation and get implemented for this election, they are not as bad as portrayed …
 

Some Palm Beach County ballots are reissued after misspelling Tim Walz’s name​

The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections said Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president, was misspelled as “Tom” Walz in some ballots that were emailed to overseas voters last Friday.

“The error was isolated to 257 electronic ballots,” the Florida county’s elections supervisor Wendy Sartory Link, a Democrat, said in a statement to CNN.

JFC
 

Sheriff Who Suggested Tracking Harris Supporters Is Stripped of Election Role​

The Ohio sheriff who urged his followers to record the addresses of people with yard signs supporting Vice President Kamala Harris will no longer head security at the county’s early voting location.

"... In a Facebook post earlier this month, the sheriff, Bruce D. Zuchowski of Portage County, called Ms. Harris a “Laughing Hyena,” and described immigrants as locusts, the crop-destroying pests that were said in the Bible to have caused a plague in Egypt.

Write down all the addresses of the people who had her signs in their yards!” Mr. Zuchowski, a Republican who is running for re-election, said of Ms. Harris’s supporters, according to a screenshot of the since-deleted post. Then when immigrants “need places to live,” he wrote, “we’ll already have the addresses of their New families.”

His comments were met with swift condemnation. And on Friday, the bipartisan Portage County Board of Elections voted 3 to 1 to remove the sheriff’s office from its role providing security at the board’s office during the early voting period, which lasts from Oct. 8 to Nov. 3. (One Republican board member voted for the motion; the other Republican member voted against it.)

... Mr. Zuchowski did not immediately reply to requests for comment. In a follow-up Facebook post last week, the sheriff wrote that his initial post “may have been a little misinterpreted.” He added that “those who vote for individuals with liberal policies have to accept responsibility for their actions.”

The backlash to his original post was bipartisan. ..."

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seems to me he should no longer be sheriff, but at least it's a start, I guess
 

... Trump Pushes to Dismiss the Jan. 6 Case


In a court filing that was meant to request more evidentiary information from special counsel Jack Smith, the former president’s attorneys instead argued, for the second time in recent weeks, that the federal election interference case “should be dismissed. Promptly.”

...John Lauro and Todd Blanche, Trump’s defense attorneys, detailed in a new court filing why they believe Smith’s case should be dismissed, starting with a duty to “protect the integrity of the Presidency and the upcoming election.” However, two weeks ago at a court hearing in Washington, when Trump’s attorneys first argued that this case should not move forward until December due to the presidential election, Judge Tanya Chutkan was clear that that would not factor into her considerations. ”I am definitely not getting drawn into electoral disputes. … That’s not something I’m going to consider.”

Yet, in their latest court filing, Lauro and Blanche chose to repeat many of the same arguments from that court hearing. They accuse Smith of denying “the existence of Presidential immunity,” though the special counsel filed a new superseding indictment because of the Supreme Court’s decision that presidents enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution for “official” actions taken while in the White House. In Trump’s case, that means his communications with his Justice Department and former Vice President Mike Pence may be off-limits for consideration as evidence. In the new indictment, Smith eliminated any mention of conversations Trump had with Pence on Jan. 6, only mentioning the vice president’s role as president of the Senate.

However, Trump’s attorneys argued the new indictment is still unacceptable, and that Smith’s investigation, which began in 2022, is now tainted because it could not possibly have accounted for SCOTUS’ decision, particularly as evidence was collected. “The Special Counsel’s Office conducted its initial, disputed discovery review in this case at a time when the Office wholly denied the existence of Presidential immunity,” they wrote.

In addition to arguing this case should be dismissed, Lauro and Blanche also want Chutkan to revisit the case schedule she ordered and slow the pace down, just days before Smith is expected to submit a major court filing on Sept. 26 that will lay out all the evidence the special counsel intends to use to prove his charges against Trump. Typically, motions filed by the prosecution or defense have page limits, but Smith requested to go over it, arguing that in order to adhere to the Supreme Court’s directive—judges must conduct a “necessarily factbound” analysis to determine which of Trump’s acts should be considered official or unofficial—he needs more space to make his case. (He has said it won’t go over 180 pages.)

Smith also flagged that he intends to include “a substantial amount of sensitive material” in his motion. Once submitted, it will be Smith’s first documented attempt to prove why he believes Trump’s actions in the aftermath of the 2020 election are not protected acts. ..."

 
ALSO (from same Slate.com link above):

"... Trump’s defense team has until Sept. 26 to respond to Smith’s appeal, but has asked the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta for a 30-day extension, since they are simultaneously working to meet deadlines related to Smith’s election interference case.

Trump’s lawyers want until Oct. 25 to respond to Smith’s appeal, which is only about 10 days before the presidential election. Once that response is submitted, the appeals court will set a date for oral arguments and a final decision will be made on whether or not Cannon’s decision to dismiss was lawful. Regardless of how the appeals court rules, if Trump wins the election, he’s expected to instruct his Justice Department to dismiss Smith’s cases against him.

If Trump loses in November, either Smith or Trump will likely appeal the 11th Circuit’s decision and the question of the special counsel’s appointment will be kicked up to the Supreme Court."
 

Sheriff Who Suggested Tracking Harris Supporters Is Stripped of Election Role​

The Ohio sheriff who urged his followers to record the addresses of people with yard signs supporting Vice President Kamala Harris will no longer head security at the county’s early voting location.

"... In a Facebook post earlier this month, the sheriff, Bruce D. Zuchowski of Portage County, called Ms. Harris a “Laughing Hyena,” and described immigrants as locusts, the crop-destroying pests that were said in the Bible to have caused a plague in Egypt.

Write down all the addresses of the people who had her signs in their yards!” Mr. Zuchowski, a Republican who is running for re-election, said of Ms. Harris’s supporters, according to a screenshot of the since-deleted post. Then when immigrants “need places to live,” he wrote, “we’ll already have the addresses of their New families.”

His comments were met with swift condemnation. And on Friday, the bipartisan Portage County Board of Elections voted 3 to 1 to remove the sheriff’s office from its role providing security at the board’s office during the early voting period, which lasts from Oct. 8 to Nov. 3. (One Republican board member voted for the motion; the other Republican member voted against it.)

... Mr. Zuchowski did not immediately reply to requests for comment. In a follow-up Facebook post last week, the sheriff wrote that his initial post “may have been a little misinterpreted.” He added that “those who vote for individuals with liberal policies have to accept responsibility for their actions.”

The backlash to his original post was bipartisan. ..."

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seems to me he should no longer be sheriff, but at least it's a start, I guess
In a lot of places, it is remarkably difficult to get rid of a Sheriff unless the state or the local municipality has an elected official recall process.
 

Sheriff Who Suggested Tracking Harris Supporters Is Stripped of Election Role​

The Ohio sheriff who urged his followers to record the addresses of people with yard signs supporting Vice President Kamala Harris will no longer head security at the county’s early voting location.

"... In a Facebook post earlier this month, the sheriff, Bruce D. Zuchowski of Portage County, called Ms. Harris a “Laughing Hyena,” and described immigrants as locusts, the crop-destroying pests that were said in the Bible to have caused a plague in Egypt.

Write down all the addresses of the people who had her signs in their yards!” Mr. Zuchowski, a Republican who is running for re-election, said of Ms. Harris’s supporters, according to a screenshot of the since-deleted post. Then when immigrants “need places to live,” he wrote, “we’ll already have the addresses of their New families.”

His comments were met with swift condemnation. And on Friday, the bipartisan Portage County Board of Elections voted 3 to 1 to remove the sheriff’s office from its role providing security at the board’s office during the early voting period, which lasts from Oct. 8 to Nov. 3. (One Republican board member voted for the motion; the other Republican member voted against it.)

... Mr. Zuchowski did not immediately reply to requests for comment. In a follow-up Facebook post last week, the sheriff wrote that his initial post “may have been a little misinterpreted.” He added that “those who vote for individuals with liberal policies have to accept responsibility for their actions.”

The backlash to his original post was bipartisan. ..."

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seems to me he should no longer be sheriff, but at least it's a start, I guess
Nice to see local electoral boards taking their job seriously and not bowing to partisan pressure.

I think there are way more good people in this country that want to make democracy work than we might think.
 
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*Same judge who just overturned the 6-week abortion ban in Georgia.
 
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