Trump has not committed to accepting the results of the 2024 election, but has said he won’t run again if he loses.
Topline
Former President Donald Trump repeated his baseless claims that the federal election subversion case against him amounts to “election interference” in the wake of the unsealing of a new filing Wednesday—foreshadowing one of the ways he and his allies are gearing up to dispute the results of the 2024 election if he loses to Vice President Kamala Harris.Key Facts
Trump’s Legal Issues: Trump called the unsealing of Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith’s full criminal case against him “election interference” and “weaponization of the government . . . 30 days before the election,” in comments to NewsNation, claims he has repeatedly made in contesting the various criminal and civil cases against him, alleging, without evidence, the prosecutors bringing the cases are working in tandem with the Biden administration to hurt his chances of winning in November.
Immigration: Trump has repeatedly, and baselessly, claimed that undocumented migrants routinely vote in US elections, and his allies have already filed a series of lawsuits that center around the claim, some of which allege states don’t have the proper protections in place to prevent non-citizen voting, including suits filed by the Trump-aligned America First Legal group in Arizona and Nevada challenging the voter status of people who registered without requiring proof of citizenship, which is required in state elections, but not federal.
Election processes: The immigration-related challenges are among nearly 90 lawsuits filed by Republican groups across the country laying the groundwork to dispute the validity of the results, according to a tally by The New York Times, including a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, the state’s third-largest county, claiming election officials missed the deadline to complete logic and accuracy testing of the state’s voting machines.
Mail-in ballots: Republicans are targeting absentee ballots in at least two swing states—in Michigan, a Republican National Committee lawsuit argues absentee ballots should be deemed invalid if they are mailed without a written statement from election officials verifying the voter’s signature on the absentee ballot request form, and in North Carolina, the GOP is demanding absentee ballots be tossed if they weren’t mailed in a “container-return” sealed envelope.
Harassment of election officials: The Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute nonprofit, along with conservative nonprofit, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, is suing state officials to prevent a law that prohibits harassment of elections officials and voters from taking effect, arguing the law is too vague and impedes on their First Amendment rights; the law is currently blocked as the case works its way through the courts.
