Tag Archives: US election 2020

Trump falls again Pennsylvania Supreme Court throws out suit demanding rejection of mail-in votes

PENNSYLVANIA-(MaraviPost)-The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has thrown out a lawsuit demanding the nullification of over two million mail-in votes in the state, dashing once more, Donald Trumps hopes of overturning the results of the presidential election.

In a unanimous decision, the state’s Apex Court ruled that the suit was brought in late, months after the time period allowed for legal challenges to the state’s mail-in voting law had expired.

The plaintiff, US Rep. Mike Kelly, had sought to halt further steps by the state to certify its election results, and called for all of Pennsylvania’s 2.5 million mail-in votes to be rejected.

The decision reversed an order from a lower court which temporarily halted certification of down-ballot results. 

The Supreme Court also said that Kelly and his co-plaintiffs had failed to provide evidence that the 2019 law had resulted in foul play on November 3. 

“They have failed to allege that even a single mail-in ballot was fraudulently cast or counted,” Justice David Wecht wrote in his opinion.

The judge castigated the legal complaint as a “transparent and untimely effort to subvert the will” of the state’s voters. “Courts should not decide elections when the will of the voters is clear,” he added.

One of the suits other plaintiffs, Sean Parnell, who lost his congressional election against incumbent Democrat Rep. Conor Lamb, vowed that the legal battle wasn’t over, saying that the court’s decision was not unexpected.

He claimed that the Supreme Court had dismissed the case on technical grounds and failed to properly weigh the lawsuit’s merits.

The decision comes three days after a Pennsylvania appeals court judge ordered state officials to pause election certification procedures until the plaintiffs’ complaint could be properly reviewed.

However, the order did not affect the certification of the presidential results for the state, as Governor Tom Wolf had already declared Democrat Joe Biden the winner of that contest in Pennsylvania a day earlier.

The Trump campaign was not a party to the case, but the US president has suffered his own legal defeats in the state.

On Friday, November 27, 2020 a federal appeals court in Philadelphia threw out his campaign’s latest suit challenging the state’s vote certification.

Reacting to the news, Trump said that he had “massive proof” of fraud and that he would appeal the ruling. 

Meanwhile, Republicans from Pennsylvania’s state legislature have announced that they will introduce a resolution to appoint delegates to the Electoral College directly, after holding a hearing in which they presented what they claimed to be widespread evidence of voting irregularities.

Trump has refused to concede defeat, insisting that the election was overwhelmingly rigged even though he has not been able to prove the claim in court.

Source: www.expressiveinfo.com

Embattled Trump falls again in US’ Pennsylvania Supreme Court election case

PENNSYLVANIA-(MaraviPost)-Out going embattled US President Donald Trump has received another major blow after Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court dismissed a complaint his campaign team filed that observers weren’t allowed close enough to observe the electoral count in the state.

The 5-2 decision ruled that Pennsylvania counties could determine the particulars of election observers, and that state law only required they be ‘in the room’ when votes are counted.

The court ruled that the elections board in Philadelphia, the state’s largest city, acted reasonably in keeping Trump campaign observers behind barricades and 15 feet (4.5 meters) away from counting tables, rejecting an appeal from Trump’s campaign.

The court found that restrictions that Philadelphia election officials put in place ‘were reasonable in that they allowed candidate representatives to observe the Board conducting its activities as prescribed under the Election Code.’

Among the evidence cited were claims made in the campaign’s own witness statements, including by a lawyer who served as an observer and shared observations from inside a vote canvassing facility.

The court’s opinion, which reversed a lower court ruling which was the Trump camp’s only significant victory, noted that the campaign’s ‘own witness’ provided testimony which contradicted the claim.

It said the restrictions ‘did not deprive’ the observer of the ability to observe what went on with the canvassing process in a meaningful way.

The legal setback snatched away the Trump camp’s lone win after filing a series of state lawsuits challenging actions by county election officials in states that went to Democrat Joe Biden.

The ruling is expected to hobble another case filed by the Trump campaign in a Federal court, where Rudy Giuliani appeared for Trump.

In the Federal court in Williamsport, Trump lawyer Giuliani alleged a nationwide conspiracy of widespread voter fraud, before District Judge Matthew Brann.

Giuliani, rumoured to be paid $20,000 a day for leading Trump’s legal charge, argued that the president was the victim of a nationwide conspiracy.

‘You’d have to be a fool to think this was an accident,’ Giuliani said in federal district court in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

‘It’s a widespread nationwide voter fraud of which this is a part.’ Trump and his lawyers have yet to provide evidence of such a nationwide conspiracy – although they have increasingly pointed to voting machines that the president claims ‘deleted’ votes from him and ‘switched’ them to Joe Biden.

Giuliani did not raise complaints about voting machines in court, instead claiming Democratic-controlled counties didn’t allow Republicans to see ‘a single absentee ballot’ during counting.

‘I used to vote by absentee ballot a lot, because I traveled a lot,’ Giuliani acknowledged during his argument.

A loss in the case would likely doom Trump’s already-remote prospects of altering the election’s outcome.

Mark Aronchick, a lawyer representing several Pennsylvania counties, sounded exasperated with Giuliani’s claims and said that the former New York mayor was “living in a fantasy world.”

“Dismiss this case so we can move on to the real business of this country,” Aronchick told Brann. “Let’s end this.”

The case initially included claims that Republican observers were denied access to ballot-counting. But Trump’s campaign on Sunday narrowed it to focus on a claim that some voters were improperly allowed to fix ballots that had been rejected due to technical errors such as missing an inner “secrecy envelope.”

During the hearing, Giuliani, a former senior federal prosecutor who has not been a courtroom regular for decades, made sweeping claims despite the campaign’s earlier narrowing of the case.

Giuliani said election officials in the state only let “their little mafia” look at the ballots, but provided no evidence to back up that claim.

Trump, the first U.S. president to lose a re-election bid since 1992, has called the election “rigged” and has falsely claimed victory.

State election officials around the country have said they have found no evidence of the widespread fraud that Trump claims.

Daniel Donovan, a lawyer for Pennsylvania’s top election official, called the state’s handling of the election during the coronavirus pandemic a success.

Donovan argued that Trump’s campaign was asking a federal court to “micromanage” routine differences in county practices.

Pennsylvania officials have said a small number of ballots were allowed to be fixed.

Trump’s campaign, however, asked Brann to halt certification of Biden’s victory in the state.

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar is due to certify the election results next Monday, meaning Brann is expected to rule quickly.

Biden, due to take office on Jan. 20, is projected to have won Pennsylvania by more than 70,000 votes, giving him 49.9% of the state’s votes to 48.8% for Trump.

Trump’s campaign said Democratic-leaning counties unlawfully identified mail-in ballots before Election Day that had defects so that voters could fix, or “cure,” them.

Pennsylvania officials said all of the state’s counties were permitted to inform residents if their mail-in ballots were deficient, even if it was not mandatory for them to do so. The pandemic led to a surge in mail-in voting.

Biden clinched the U.S. election by winning Pennsylvania to put him over the 270 state-by-state electoral votes needed. Biden, a Democrat, won 306 Electoral College votes to Trump’s 232.

Source:.www.expressiveinfo.com

My Take On It: We the people of the US vote, celebrants erupt into global creative joy and dancing

Biden beat Trump

15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. – John 13:15-17

Global creative joy, mirth, and dancing erupted globally when it was announced that former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris were projected winners of the 2020 US Presidential US elections. The elections show that the former Vice President amassed not only the majority of the popular vote (over 76 million people) but also acquired 279 of the Electoral College votes against his competitor, incumbent President Donald Trump (71 million popular votes and 214 Electoral College votes).

There are triple reasons to sing and shout for joy in this win (which is yet to be conceded to by Trump and his Republican Party officials). Biden’s win brings to the highest tables of US leadership the first female Vice President, Kamala Harris, an African American, born of immigrant parents who were a Jamaican father and an Indian mother.

The cream on top of all this gaiety, Joe Biden also happens to be the second Catholic elected to the US Presidency, in US history.

Four years ago I was sick for four days when Hilary Clinton lost the electoral vote paving the way for outsider Donald Trump to be declared the 45th President of the US; four years later, I have not stopped breaking into dancing since the announcement on Saturday that Biden has won and Harris is his VP. Thank you America, democracy is back, again liberty is guaranteed, and to quote former US President Gerald Ford, “the long national nightmare is over.” 

Global celebrations included among others, bells peeling in Paris, fireworks erupting in London, dances bursting outs along streets and parks in most major cities, all giddy in joyous celebrations like some menacing dictator had fallen. Through all the formal media and social media platforms, this gaiety manifested in an endless spontaneous stream of news articles, cartoons, mimes, and humorous forwards. A German front-page newspaper had two cartoons, one with Trump cutting off the head of the Statue of Liberty; next to it is one of Joe Biden replacing the decapitated head back to Liberty; another cartoon is of a very giant Liberty shouting to a small Trump the famous words from his reality show, “You’re fired!”

World leaders congratulating Joe Biden include Pope Francis, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor, Angela Merkle, French Premier Emmanuel Macron, and many others.

The election of Joe Biden and Hamala Harris is a 76 million-strong repudiation of Trumpism, the four-year rule that has reigned terror on almost every sector of the US with extended tentacles in the global community.

In the US, it was four years of lies, using conspiracy theories, high among them that the global COVID pandemic is a hoax that will miraculously go away. This led caused him to fail to act swiftly, to develop a national plan for mitigating and stopping the spread of the virus. He also dangerously advanced a malaria drug as a cure for COVID, and later said that injecting bleach could possibly kill the virus. He refused to model to his followers during his rallies, to wear a mask.

Even before he was elected president, Trump said that the first African American president (Barrack Obama, the first African American US President) was illegitimate because according to Trump, Obama was not born in the USA. He sought to undo many achievements that were introduced during the Obama presidency, among them the Affordable Care Act, the Clean Air, and Emissions of Gas Act.

Historically he is also the first president to ever seek re-election for a seat in which he was impeached. In December 2020 articles for his impeachment were approved by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives: these included charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Republican-controlled Senate voted against his removal from office. He is widely accused of being assisted to have won the 2016 elections with help from Russia. He broke from vital global agreements among them the Paris Treaty on Climate Change, WHO; and he also breathed hot coal on the NATO allies, and just showed a lot of disrespect on American friends.

Around the world, President Trump moved away and alienated the US from its traditional allies and instead admired global dictators; he warmed up to and embraced the once enemies of America; among them Russia and North Korea. He denigrated African countries as “shitholes,” called Mexicans rapists and drug dealers, separating over 600 children from their parents as they sought asylum in the US.

President Trump ironically treated Russia with unfamiliar kid gloves when it came to Russia. He said he believed Putin in opposition to US intelligent sources that accused Russia of meddling in US elections; Trump also failed to demand an explanation from Putin on the accusation that Russia was offering bounties for the killing of US troops in Eastern Europe. 

This caused large parts of the Republican Party to break and from the Lincoln Project that campaigned for the Biden/Harris ticket. It also caused a large group of minority voters – among them African American women, Latinas, young and never before voted; flooding the voter airwaves in the early vote and election day, they came like a swarm of bees.

As the count continues, President-Elect Biden lead is widening, as soon-to-be-former President Trump and his allies hang on to recounting of votes, court cases and intimidation tactics. He has also promised to hold rallies to show voter fraud and how the Biden side is attempting to steal his win. 

But American democracy won bigly. “We the people” have spoken. For the second time, they’ve elected a catholic and for the first time, they’ve elected a woman, who is also a person of color and daughter of immigrant parents, the VP. Harris will hold the second-highest office in the US. Her picture will sit among a sea of male faces.

Ooooh what a feeling, I’m dancing on the ceiling! “We the people” have spoken.

Former Botswana President Ian Khama celebrates Trump defeat with global hit song “Jerusalema”

web_photo_ Ian Khama_24092016
Former President of Botswana Ian Khama

GABARONE-(MaraviPost)-Former Botswana president, Ian Khama showed celebration for Donald Trump’s defeat by dancing to the global hit, Jerusalema.

Khama also issued a statement on social media saying that America has been freed from abuse and narcissism.

The former Botswana president also warns that Joe Biden has a big job to do reversing Trump’s deeds.

Khama celebrate Trump defeat with global hit song Jerusalema

“The outcome of the American election is a reminder to us too in Botswana that the vote, without interference, is more powerful than the voted,” he said.

In what appeared to be a dig to his successor, Khama says the country is going through a drought in leadership by a reckless, heartless and dishonest regime.

Source: eNCA

#US Election 2020: “We’re going to win”- Biden assures as lead widens

Biden (left) poised to win US elections

PENNSYLVANIA-(MaraviPost)-Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden appears close to winning the presidency after securing more than 27,000 votes more than Donald Trump in Pennsylvania

Addressing supporters, Biden says: “The numbers tell us a clear story: We’re going to win this race”

The Democrat also leads in Georgia, Nevada and Arizona – states could provide more paths to the presidency

President Trump warned Biden against declaring victory – a day after appearing to do so himself

Overall turnout is projected to be the highest in 120 years at 66.9%.

Source: BBC

Desperate! Trump’s Spiritual Adviser Paula White summons ‘Angels from Africa’ to help him win;

WASHINGTON-(MaraviPost)-President Trump’s spiritual advisor, Paula White has caused drama online after a video was shared online where she is calling on “angelic reinforcement” from Africa and South America to help Trump win re-election.

As the tension continue to rise over the ongoing US 2020 election, it is obvious that Donald Trump’s team is pulling out all the stops to ensure his reelection in the presidential race.

Apart from his close aides, even Trump’s spiritual advisor, Paula White is doing her part.

In a desperate move on Wednesday night, November 4, 2020, Paula White who is the White House spiritual adviser and head of the government’s Faith and Opportunity Initiative program hosted an impassioned prayer session.

Paula said, “The angels are coming here in the name of Jesus from Africa, from South America for angelic reinforcement.”

She prayed against the “demonic confederacies” that are attempting to steal the election from President Trump.

Paula said in a wacky tone in the viral video, “I hear a sound of victory. The Lord says it is done. For I hear, victory, victory, victory!”

She continued, “Angels are being dispatched right now.” Then the prayer got even more bizarre as she uttered, “Angels have been dispatched from Africa right now. They’re coming here, in the name of Jesus.” She continued her chant in Latin, and repeated “I hear the sound of victory” many times in the video.

Reacting to White’s prayer, former CNN anchor Ishay Sesay wrote: “Hang on a minute… so she wants angels from AFRICA to help Donald Trump stay in the White House?? I thought he wanted us to stay in our ‘huts’ and ‘shit hole countries’. This my friends, is the definition of ‘trifling’…”

See her tweet and other reactions below.

Source: www.expressiveinfo.com

#US Election 2020: Embattled Trump alleges ‘shenanigans’ as Biden urges calm…poised to win polls

Biden and embattled Trump

WASHINGTON-(MaraviPost)-US President Donald Trump has accused Democrats of voting “shenanigans” as the result from Tuesday’s White House election hangs in the balance.

His Democratic challenger Joe Biden earlier appealed for calm as the nail-biting count drags on in five states.

While clinging to wafer-thin leads in Nevada and Arizona, Mr Biden has been chewing into the Republican president’s edge in Pennsylvania and Georgia.

The cliff-hanger follows one of the bitterest campaigns in living memory.

According to BBC, the election is projected to have generated the highest turnout since 1900. Mr Biden has so far pulled in well over 73 million votes, the most ever for a US presidential candidate. Mr Trump has drawn almost 70 million, the second-highest tally in history.

What did Trump say?

In his first public remarks since appearing at the White House in the early hours of Wednesday, the president said: “If you count the legal votes, I easily win.

“If you count the illegal votes they can try to steal the election from us.”

Beyond allegations of irregularities, the Trump campaign has not presented any evidence of election fraud.https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.36.2/iframe.htmlmedia caption’All of a sudden Trump’s losing? Come on’

Speaking from the White House on Thursday, the president added: “We were winning in all the key locations, by a lot actually, and then our numbers started getting miraculously whittled away in secret and they wouldn’t allow legally permissible observers.”

Mr Trump’s critics have pointed out his lead is evaporating because he actively discouraged his supporters from voting by mail, while Mr Biden urged his voters to do so, and it is these postal ballots that are now being tallied in the key states.

The president added: “There’s been a lot of shenanigans and we can’t stand for that in our country.”

Election analysts have argued that the president’s claims of Democratic electoral corruption are undermined by the better-than-expected performance of his fellow Republicans in congressional races across the map.

What’s the reaction?

Some Republicans who have in the past raised rare dissent against the president implicitly criticised his latest remarks.

Mitt Romney, the Utah senator who lost as the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, said: “The votes will be counted. If there are irregularities alleged, they will be investigated and ultimately resolved in the courts.https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.36.2/iframe.htmlmedia captionTrump’s unsubstantiated voting fraud claims explained

“Have faith in our democracy, in our Constitution, and in the American people.”

Also without naming the president, Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger said: “If you have legit concerns about fraud present evidence and take it to court. Stop spreading debunked misinformation… This is getting insane.”

But Texas congressman Will Hurd, a Republican who did not seek re-election, was more forthright, calling Mr Trump’s comments “dangerous” and “wrong”.

And Maryland Governor Larry Hogan tweeted: “There is no defence for the President’s comments tonight undermining our Democratic process.”

However, Georgia Senator David Perdue tweeted that “every lawful vote cast should be counted, once”, and then the president would win.

What did Biden say?

Earlier on Thursday, speaking from his campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, Mr Biden appealed for calm across the country.

In a brief televised address, the Democratic challenger again expressed confidence he would be declared the winner.

“Democracy is sometimes messy,” he said. “It sometimes requires a little patience as well.https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.36.2/iframe.htmlmedia caption”Each ballot must be counted”: Joe Biden calls for patience with the election result

“But that patience has been rewarded now for more than 240 years, the system of governance that has been the envy of the world.”

He added: “I asked everyone to stay calm. All people to stay calm. The process is working. The count is being completed. And we’ll know very soon.”

As results gradually trickle in, protests involving both sides have been held in major cities over the vote counting.

Source: BBC

#US Election 2020: Trump’s baseless polls fraud claims undermine America credibility

President Trump speaks on November 4 in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC.
President Trump speaks on November 4 in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

WASHINGTON-(MaraviPost)-A team of international observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has called President Trump’s claims of voting irregularities “baseless” and says they “harm public trust in democratic institutions.”

The organization — of which the United States is a member — complimented the voting itself, calling it “competitive and well managed despite legal uncertainties and logistical challenges,” according to a preliminary report released on Thursday. 

Despite the various compliments, the OSCE said “late legal challenges and evidence-deficient claims about election fraud created confusion and concern among election officials and voters.”

It also criticized Trump’s claims of irregularities in the vote.“ Baseless allegations of systematic deficiencies, notably by the incumbent president, including on election night, harm public trust in democratic institutions,” it said. 

The OSCE praised the arrangements put in place by election officials across the country contributed to a higher turnout “despite challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic,” rejecting President Trump’s criticism of the postal voting system. 

“Despite numerous public statements by the incumbent President over the integrity of postal voting, the number and scale of alleged and reported cases of fraud associated to absentee ballots remained negligible,” it said. 

About the group: The OSCE sent a team of 102 observers to oversee the voting process in the United States, at the invitation of the US authorities. It will publish a final assessment after the conclusion of the electoral process. 

#US Election 2020: Votes count continue amid Trump court challenge

WASHINGTON-(MaraviPost)-Vote counting continues in a handful of key battleground states which will determine the outcome of the US presidential election

The final result hinges on the states of Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada and Pennsylvania

The Trump campaign has launched legal bids to stop the counts in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia and Michigan

Protesters have taken to the streets of several cities to demand counting be allowed to continue, while others have called for counting to stop

Donald Trump has alleged fraud, without offering evidence

Democrat Joe Biden has racked up a record 71.5 million votes and has said he will win enough states to become president – but key results remain outstanding

Mr Trump is so far projected to win 23 states, including Texas, Ohio and Florida, having outperformed pollsters’ predictions

Overall turnout is projected to be the highest in 120 years at 66.9%, and we might not have a result for days.

Source: BBC

#US Election 2020:Joe Biden is nearing 270 electoral votes

Joe Biden is nearing 270 electoral votes

WASHINGTON-(MaraviPost)- The Democratic Presidential candidate in US election 2020 Joe Biden is nearing 270 electoral votes

Six states remain too close to call. The key battleground of Pennsylvania warned they may not have their final tally today. Here’s why delayed election results show us the system IS actually working.

President Trump claimed some legitimate tallying efforts should stop and tried to assert victory in the election. Joe Biden urged patience as the votes continued to be counted. 

See the latest results in the House hereand Senate here.

More to come….

Source: CNN