WHAT THE PRESIDENT CAN AND CAN'T DO REGARDING ELECTION RESULTS
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent

Ninety-eight days, folks. That’s what’s left until all of the 2020 votes are cast. And, ideally, until the results are known. 

But there are doubts and fears about how, and how quickly, we’ll get those 2020 results. States each face a different list of issues. Some are struggling to hire enough election workers, others are still counting a mountain of mail-in ballots from primaries. And now President Donald Trump is keeping open the possibility that he may not accept the general election results if he loses. 

We’ve been hearing a lot of talk about that last one, so we thought we’d take a quick look at whether Trump — or either major party presidential candidate — could question or reject the 2020 results.

First, can presidential candidates reject election results?

While candidates have First Amendment rights to voice an opinion on the results, they cannot reject or ignore them once each state has certified their vote and triggered the Electoral College process. As law professor Jonathan Turley told CBS, "The Secret Service on Inauguration Day is under the direction of the new president.” And, Turley said, law enforcement agencies would work to secure the office for the newly sworn-in president.

When are presidential results final? 

Each state has its own certification process for general elections. But, overall, U.S. law says that states can change, accept and act on challenges to presidential electors up until six days before the Electoral College meets. The 2020 electors are scheduled to meet Dec. 14. That gives states until Dec. 8 to act on and resolve any disputes, including recounts.

What about those recounts? Who can order one?

In most states, if a presidential candidate wants a recount, they can get one. Some 43 states allow campaigns to request recounts, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. A total of 19 states and the District of Columbia allow for automatic recounts if the vote margin is especially close. 

Do recounts ever reverse elections?

FiveThirtyEight looked into this four years ago, as Wisconsin faced its own Trump vs. Clinton recount. The answer? It’s very rare. The blog concluded that out of more than 4,600 statewide elections over 15 years, just 3 ended in recounts that reversed the result. 


FIVE OVERLOOKED POLITICAL STORIES FROM THE PAST WEEK
By Ian Couzens, @iancouzenz
Politics production assistant

California, Florida, Texas lose House seats with Trump order -- July 25. Trump's order seeks to prevent undocumented immigrants from being tallied as part of the country's overall head count. Why It Matters: The U.S. Census is used to determine how many seats in Congress each state gets, as well as how Electoral College votes are allocated and how much federal aid each state receives, all of which would be skewed if Trump succeeds at excluding millions of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. -- Associated Press

Biden’s campaign is ‘suppressing the Hispanic vote’ in Florida, an internal letter claims -- July 25. Over 90 field organizers from the state's Democratic party signed the complaint accusing the Biden campaign of removing Spanish speaking field organizers from heavily Latino neighborhoods. Why It Matters: This comes at a time when enthusiasm is dwindling among Latino voters, and in battleground states like Florida, where elections could be won or lost by a thin margin, both presidential campaigns are under pressure to motivate Latino voters to participate in the November election. -- Miami Herald

Election Officials Are Vulnerable to Email Attacks, Report Shows -- July 26. Out of the 12,000 local election officials tracked, 13.3 percent used free and/or unsecured email servers that could easily be accessed by state-sponsored hackers. Why it Matters: Not only does this security issue leave the election vulnerable to being tampered with, but its very existence could undermine confidence in election results. -- The Wall Street Journal. 

Wealthy donors pour millions into fight over mail-in voting -- July 27. The pandemic is forcing states to revise how they conduct elections, and parties along the political spectrum see an opportunity to create an advantage for themselves in November. Why It Matters: Who wins the presidential election could come down to whether voters have an alternative to in-person voting during a public health crisis in which social distancing is encouraged. -- Associated Press. 

Biden makes gains as Trump loses grip on traditionally ‘red’ Arizona - July 24. Changing demographics in Arizona were already improving Democrats’ chances, but Trump’s handling of the pandemic is giving them more reason to hope they can win the state, which has seen a spike in infections in recent months. Why it Matters:  The changing tide in Arizona could not only help lift Biden into the White House, but could help usher in an era of Democratic control, as Biden shares the ticket in November with Democrat and former astronaut Mark Kelly, a Senate hopeful whose win would bring his party one step closer to the Senate majority.  


#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Kate Grumke, @KGrumke
Politics producer

On this day in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. One of the Reconstruction-era amendments, it granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” and guaranteed equal protection under the law. During the ratification process, two states rescinded their support, then in 2003, reversed themselves and ratified the amendment.

Our question: Name one of the two states that rescinded their support and re-ratified the amendment in 2003. 

Send your answers to [email protected] or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: In one famous speech in Texas, a politician declared: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” What politician made that speech?

The answer is John F. Kennedy. His famous “we choose to go to the moon” speech was delivered at Rice University on September 12, 1962. JFK actually first set the goal of going to the moon within the decade on May 25, 1962, but this speech in Houston has gone down in history among his great speeches. The podium that Kennedy gave the speech from is now on display at the Space Center Houston.

Congratulations to our winners: Jackie Austin and Bradley Robideau!!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.