Trump "US Presidential Election Will Go to Federal Supreme Court"... Experts "Doubt It Will Happen"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Although U.S. President Donald Trump has initiated legal procedures such as lawsuits regarding the November 3 presidential election results, experts are skeptical about whether the situation will unfold according to his intentions.

On the 4th (local time), President Trump announced plans to engage in legal battles over the election results. Subsequently, Trump's team immediately filed lawsuits demanding a halt to vote counting in key battleground states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan. In Wisconsin, President Trump requested a recount. The Trump campaign alleges that the Democratic side is hiding the vote counting process from Republican poll watchers.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

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Election law experts have expressed doubts about President Trump's claims. Although the Trump camp has filed successive lawsuits, it is not possible to go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, as the final appellate court, reviews whether lower courts have made decisions in accordance with federal law and the Constitution. Therefore, legal proceedings begin in state-level courts.

Foreign media viewed Trump's mention of the Supreme Court amid uncertainty about whether it would handle related lawsuits as a move based on the belief that it could overturn the election outcome. Among the nine Supreme Court justices, six are conservative. There is an underlying assumption that the Court would issue rulings favorable to him if the case reaches that level.

The most likely Supreme Court intervention concerns Pennsylvania's mail-in ballots. Pennsylvania had decided to count mail-in ballots postmarked on Election Day up to three days after the election. Other states in the U.S. have established separate regulations regarding mail-in ballots received after Election Day, but Pennsylvania lacks explicit rules on this matter. The Republican Party sees the absence of legal grounds as problematic and may file lawsuits on this basis.

This issue was previously addressed by the Supreme Court following Republican challenges. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court allowed mail-in ballots arriving within three days after the election to be counted, and the Republicans requested the U.S. Supreme Court to block the enforcement of this ruling. However, the Supreme Court dismissed the case, citing reasons such as insufficient time to decide. Thus, legal disputes remain possible.

U.S. Supreme Court
Photo by AP Yonhap News

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However, there is also an opinion that for the Supreme Court to handle a lawsuit, the outcome must be substantial enough to change the election results. Edward Foley, a law professor at Ohio State University, pointed out, "The Supreme Court can intervene only when the number of votes involved in the lawsuit materially affects the election outcome." If the number of mail-in ballots received after Election Day is insufficient to alter the election results, there is no reason for the Supreme Court to intervene. Professor Foley predicted, "It will take several days to see how things unfold. We are still at the beginning stage." Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola University and an election law expert, said, "President Trump is making very strange claims without presenting any legal basis," emphasizing that vote counting should continue without interruption.

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