The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit backed by President Donald Trump to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory, ending Trump’s attempt to get legal issues rejected by other judges before the high court. (Dec. 11)
USA TODAY’s coverage of the 2020 election and President-elect Joe Biden’s transition continues this week as he rolls out more of his picks for top jobs in his administration. With the final vote counts certified, the Electoral College will meet in statehouses across the U.S. Monday where the 538 electors will cast the ballots making Biden’s victory official.
President Donald Trump has cleared the way for Biden’s team to use federal resources and get briefings during the transition, although Trump has yet to formally concede the race.
Be sure to refresh this page often to get the latest information on the election and the transition.
Audit finds National Democratic Party complicated Iowa caucus problems
The national Democratic Party “aggressively interjected itself” into the 2020 Iowa caucuses, slowing down and complicating the development of a reporting app that crashed on caucus night and delayed the tallying of results, an audit of the process found.
The Iowa Democratic Party commissioned the audit shortly after the Feb. 3 caucuses, hiring a pair of Democratic lawyers to examine the technical and procedural failures that prevented it from announcing a caucus winner for days after the high-profile contest ended.
The party released the results to its State Central Committee Saturday morning. A copy was obtained by the Des Moines Register, which is part of the USA TODAY Network.
On caucus night, the report says the DNC demanded access to the state party’s reporting data in real-time. It wanted access so that it could calculate the results to confirm the state’s numbers before anything would be released to the public.
“When the DNC’s database conversion tool failed to work correctly, it caused the DNC to wrongly stop the IDP from reporting its results, and the IDP’s entire planned reporting process was thrown into disarray,” the report said. “The DNC’s interjection was the catalyst for the resulting chaos in the boiler room and the IDP’s attempts to manually collect and confirm caucus results by hand.”
The “boiler room” was a call center where the state party had staffed volunteers to take phone calls from precinct captains who wanted to report results over the telephone, rather than use the app. When the app failed, the call center was overrun.
U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig – a Trump nominee – concluded the president didn’t have the ability to bring his lawsuit in federal court and waited too long to file it.
Ludwig described the case as “extraordinary.”
“A sitting president who did not prevail in his bid for reelection has asked for federal court help in setting aside the popular vote based on disputed issues of election administration, issues he plainly could have raised before the vote occurred,” Ludwig wrote. “This court allowed the plaintiff the chance to make his case and he has lost on the merits. In his reply brief, plaintiff ‘asks that the Rule of Law be followed.’ It has been.”
Trump sought to have the Republican-led Legislature, rather than voters, decide how to allocate Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes. In a hearing Thursday, Ludwig told Trump’s legal team that giving that power to lawmakers would result in “probably the most remarkable ruling in the history of this court or the federal judiciary.”
MADISON, Wis. – President Donald Trump’s legal team goes before the state Supreme Court on Saturday in one of his last efforts to overturn Wisconsin’s election results after a string of legal defeats.
The arguments — a rarity on a weekend — come a day after a judge turned down the Republican president’s claims that several of Wisconsin’s election practices violated the law and concluded election officials were right to give the state’s 10 electoral votes to Democrat Joe Biden.
The justices will review that decision and are expected to rule before the Electoral College meets at noon Monday.
Trump faces a difficult path. The state Supreme Court last week ruled 4-3 against Trump and his backers in three lawsuits.
In addition, this week the U.S. Supreme Court turned away an attempt by Texas to rescind the results in Wisconsin and three other states, a federal judge in Wisconsin dismissed a lawsuit brought by Trump allies and a different federal judge expressed deep skepticism of yet another case seeking to prevent Wisconsin’s electoral votes from going to Biden.
Biden won Wisconsin by about 21,000 votes out of 3.3 million cast, giving him a margin of victory of 0.6 percentage points. Trump paid $3 million for a recount in Dane and Milwaukee counties, but the recount slightly widened Biden’s win.
– Patrick Marley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Trump named ‘Loser of the Year’ by German news magazine
German news magazine Der Spiegel named President Donald Trump the “loser of the year” Thursday, the same day TIME named President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Kamala Harris TIME’s 2020 person of the year.
The magazine bestowed the title – “Der Verlierer des Jahres” in German – on Trump in an article focused on the president’s unfounded claims of widespread election fraud since his defeat.
“Nothing is normal under Trump,” the article says. “He refuses to admit defeat. Instead, he speaks of massive electoral fraud, although there is no evidence for it. The whole thing is not surprising. Trump’s presidency ends as it began. Without decency and without dignity.”
Trump continues to refuse to concede after the Supreme Court rejected another lawsuit aimed at throwing out the election result and despite the official certification of the vote tallies ahead of the Electoral College vote Monday.
– Sarah Elbeshbishi
Sarah Palin stumps for Georgia’s GOP senators
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is on the campaign trail in Georgia, campaigning for Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in the lead up to their January runoff elections.
“Georgia we need you to not just show up Jan. 5, not just win, but to crush it,” Palin told a packed parking lot of supports in Marietta Friday.
Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, also repeated Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud and that the election was “rigged.”
The results of Georgia’s runoff elections will be the determining factor of what party will control the Senate. If Perdue and Loeffler’s democratic opponents Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock both win their races, the Democrats will control the Senate with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris able to break any ties.
“We’re going to keep making America Great,” Palin said. “And Georgia, it’s in your hands.”
– Sarah Elbeshbishi
GOP election official tells Wis. legislators no ‘credible evidence of large-scale voter fraud’
MADISON, Wis. – A Republican member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission told legislative committees Friday that he has “not seen credible evidence of large-scale voter fraud in Wisconsin during the November election.”
“There were no dumps of ballots during the night, none,” Dean Knudson told lawmakers looking into the conduct of the Nov. 3 election that Democrat Joe Biden won by about 21,000 votes over President Donald Trump.
“There is no evidence of any fraud related to Dominion voting machines in Wisconsin,” Knudson said. “Counting in Wisconsin did not stop and restart. Election observers were allowed to be present throughout Election Day and election night proceedings. The number of voters on our poll books match the number of ballots cast.
“There has been no criminal evidence presented to the Elections Commission that any of these problems occurred in Wisconsin,” he said.
– Bill Glauber and Patrick Marley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Trump supporters rally in DC
Thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump are expected to gather in Washington, D.C., on Saturday to protest what they believe was massive fraud in the Nov. 3 election despite any credible evidence such fraud occurred.
The conservative Women for America First obtained the permit for the protest, which will feature South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, former national security adviser Mike Flynn, and ex-Trump aide Sebastian Gorka.
Trump, who is scheduled to attend the Army-Navy football game in West Point, New York, Saturday afternoon, tweeted that he only learned the protesters were gathering and vowed he will “being seeing them.”
Counter-protesters are also expected to gather during the event. Clashes broke out between Trump supporters and counter-protesters at a similar rally in Washington last month, leading to the arrest of at least 20 people.
Wow! Thousands of people forming in Washington (D.C.) for Stop the Steal. Didn’t know about this, but I’ll be seeing them! #MAGA
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
