Friday, 31 Jul 2020 10:31 AM MYT
But in the ensuing days, as mail-in ballots from densely populated urban areas are counted, his advantage disappears in what experts call the “blue shift” — and the president claims the contest is being stolen from him.States have varying laws regarding mail-in and absentee ballots — signature matching, postmark requirements, application deadlines — and any could prompt litigation by either Democrats or Republicans over which ballots should be properly counted.
The current court's conservative majority has generally been permissive of voting restrictions. But that does not necessarily suggest the court would lean toward Trump in a dispute over the election results, legal scholars say.Perhaps even more worrisome than litigation is the possibility of an Electoral College dispute, some experts say.
States have occasionally submitted competing certificates in US history, most notably in 1876, when the election remained unsettled for months. The dispute was resolved only after party officials brokered a deal giving Republican Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency in exchange for withdrawing US troops left over from the Civil War from Southern states, a move that helped usher in the Jim Crow era of racial segregation.