The legal fight over the 2024 election has begun
The team of the former president Trump is more interested in building a vast network of “election-integrity” lawyers and poll monitors than it is in assembling organizers and doorknockers to reach voters.
Why it matters: This is a sign that the legal battle for the 2024 election has begun five months before Election Day — and that Trump will cry “rigged” in the event of a loss, just like he did after his felony convictions and the 2020 elections.
The Republican National Committee, which is under the control of Donald Trump, has assembled a network consisting of lawyers and other volunteers in order to prepare lawsuits that will challenge the results of the vote on Nov. 5.
Axios reported that the RNC intends to hire more staff for its operation than any other department.
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The RNC has appointed 13 “election Integrity” state directors, who have been holding training sessions for state and county GOP Parties in swing states like Pennsylvania, Arizona and Wisconsin.
The firm has also contracted 13 local attorneys to assist in identifying local litigation opportunities.
The RNC and Trump’s campaign plan to deploy 100,000 volunteers including law students, lawyers and other professionals to act as poll monitors and observers.
Between the lines: Stephen Miller, state Republican parties, and other groups, including RNC, have already filed dozens election-related lawsuits across 25 states.
Many of these lawsuits are aimed at preventing states from counting mail in ballots which are incomplete or received after Election Day.
Other challenge whether states have kept accurate voter registration list, prevented non-citizens voting and tightened rules on voter ID.
Republicans have won several lawsuits. One of them, in New York, struck down a New York law allowing non-citizens the right to vote at local elections.
In Pennsylvania, the GOP won another case. A court ruled that mail-in votes without a date should not be counted.
Zoom in: Wisconsin, the swing state that Biden won in 2020 by less than a point, has seen a flurry of legal activity.
The New York Times reported that Mike Hoffman, Wisconsin director of the RNC for the unit, said to 50 conservative activists on a call for training last month: “We will have deployed attorneys for Milwaukee… and roaming lawyers for Racine, and Kenosha.”
Wisconsin Elections Commission, Milwaukee and Madison, both heavily Democratic cities, have been sued by Republicans for alleged violations of their rights. In the complaints, Republicans claim that they were denied positions as poll workers in the April primary election.
On the other side, Democrats are launching their own legal challenges in response to the onslaught by Republicans. The Democratic National Committee, Marc Elias and his firm are leading some of the legal challenges.
A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit filed by voters represented in court by Elias’ firm, who sought to stop Wisconsin’s law that requires voters to obtain a witness’ signature before casting an absentee vote.
The DNC and Biden’s campaign have their own team of election litigators to deal with GOP lawsuits.
Alex Floyd, DNC spokesperson, told Axios that the DNC had built up a robust operation to protect voters. The DNC invested tens and millions of dollars in order to defend against MAGA Republicans assaults on our voting rights.
Democrats have challenged several GOP lawsuits. These include two in Arizona that target the state’s electoral procedures. The Democrats are also challenging the 2023 North Carolina law, which made it harder to register on Election Day.
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