According to reports by the Associated Press (AP), Donald Trump today called two influential state judges from Michigan to the White House, a state that the Democratic candidate won by more than 154,000 votes (provisional results), to continue the idea of convincing local judges and legislators to set aside the popular vote and switch to voters chosen by the Republicans.
The move of two high-ranking officials from Michigan to Washington takes place at the same time that the recount of votes began today in the two most democratic counties in Wisconsin, with the Trump campaign trying to cast off tens of thousands of votes cast by absent voters who, he claimed, should not have been counted.
Trump’s three objections in an attempt to overturn the votes were dismissed by the three Dane County council members. Trump is expected to raise the same objections in Milwaukee County before a court challenge once the recount is completed, perhaps on Wednesday, the AP said.
Biden won in Wisconsin by 20,600 votes and won the counties of Dane and Milwaukee. Trump only paid the recounts in those two counties, but not in the other 70, where he won the victory in 58 of them.
The AP recalls that there is no precedent for a recount that overcomes a deficit as large as that of Trump in Wisconsin, so its strategy is widely seen as, read in the AP, “yet another attempt to create a case to lead to court”.
Still in relation to Michigan, earlier this week, Trump personally summoned two campaign council officials who refused to certify the results in Wayne County, the most populous in the state and who voted overwhelmingly for Biden.
The two Republican campaign officials, the AP said, would have agreed to certify the results, but after a phone call from Trump, they changed their minds.
Some Michigan lawmakers reported having been inundated with calls and emails from Trump supporters to demand intervention, responding that state law “clearly requires” voters to be nominated by the party that gets the most votes – “the law does not allows the nomination or approval of alternative voters ”.
The Michigan effort, the AP continues, is among “the various last-minute tactics” that Trump and his allies are using to prevent an electoral defeat.
Trump’s team also suggested a legal challenge in Pennsylvania to override the popular vote and pressure Arizona county officials to delay certification of vote counts.
At the White House, discussions were underway about extending an invitation to Pennsylvania’s Republican legislative leadership as well.
This afternoon, the White House, however, denied that Trump intended to pressure Michigan lawmakers to not certify election results.
“[Trump] will be at a meeting later. This will not be a meeting to defend [a sua causa], nor will we talk about the campaign. It is a routine meeting involving lawmakers from across the country, ”said White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany.
On the other hand, Thursday night, it was announced that the recount of votes in the US presidential election in Georgia confirmed Biden’s victory.
The initial count gave the Democrat only about 14,000 votes ahead of Trump, which forced a manual recount. The gap narrowed slightly, with Joe Biden now having an advantage of just over 12,200 votes.
The difference between the two candidates is still very small and Trump, who disputes the defeat, may therefore request a new recount, clarified the office of Georgia’s secretary of state, responsible for the elections.
Biden was declared the winner of the presidential elections on November 7, after having conquered three important states: Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Biden has 306 delegates to the Electoral College, against 232 from Trump. To obtain the victory he needed 270 “big voters”.
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