# Trump Pressured Georgia Official to ‘Find’ Enough Votes to Overturn Election **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 3, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592 "2021-01-03T20:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2024, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/483 "2024-08-11T22:08:23Z")
It seems it is likely republicans are preparing to oppose the election results if Harris wins: > **[Get Ready Now: Republicans Will Refuse to Certify a Harris Win](https://www.thebulwark.com/p/republicans-will-refuse-certify-harris-election?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web)** > > Trumpist county election officials are preparing to throw the process into chaos. > No need to worry about mayhem on January 6, 2025 when Congress meets in joint session; the election deniers plan to stop a result right away if it looks like Harris is winning. Their goal: Refuse to certify anywhere—even a county that Trump won—and prevent certification in that state, which prevents certification of the presidential election. > > A Harris victory could become a nightmare. I really hope Biden/Harris/Dems have a solid, serious plan in place (in all 50 states but certainly some more than others) to deal with this if it happens. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2024, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/484 "2024-08-11T23:08:12Z")
I’m not sure I see a way out of it, if all those people need is one district or one friendly judge or other overseer. And not even succeed; just delay long enough, and it’ll work. This has greatly dampened my enthusiasm for voting. (Which, I acknowledge, is probably a big reason this is being done as well.) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2024, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/485 "2024-08-11T23:35:20Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > It seems it is likely republicans are preparing to oppose the election results if Harris wins I expect they’ve been preparing to no matter what the polls say. Some of them have been preparing ever since 2020, if not sooner. > [@Leaper](#): > > This has greatly dampened my enthusiasm for voting. (Which, I acknowledge, is probably a big reason this is being done as well.) That is indeed a large part of the reason. We need a vote so decisive that it’ll be obvious what they’re trying to do to anyone not already a traitor. So show up, damn it! whatever state you’re in. (And, of course, vote downballot also while you’re at it.) ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2024, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/486 "2024-08-11T23:43:24Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > We need a vote so decisive that it’ll be obvious what they’re trying to do This. So much this. If, for instance, the Georgia popular tally is +100,000 for Harris, instead of the +11,000 for Biden, then their ploy will be easily sniffed out for the farce it really is. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/487 "2024-08-11T23:56:49Z")
Yep. This needs to be in landslide territory and wide-spread enough that any one state can’t fuck things up without getting burned by _everyone_. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/488 "2024-08-12T00:05:10Z")
Question, then, because I’ve wondered this before: do all states require reasons to refuse to certify? Like, could a Trumpist official say, yeah, I know Harris won by two million votes, that’s exactly why I’m suspicious and negating those votes, or even just, I have the legal authority to refuse to certify, I don’t have to explain myself, fuck you? Again, if even one region’s laws are loose enough, doesn’t that screw the whole system up? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/489 "2024-08-12T00:05:53Z")
Isn’t that what the zillion failed lawsuits were all about? ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/490 "2024-08-12T00:06:31Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > We need a vote so decisive that it’ll be obvious what they’re trying to do to anyone not already a traitor. We had one. In 2020. Where we have fallen short thus far is in properly treating the doubters commensurate with their acts of subversion and sedition. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/491 "2024-08-12T00:10:46Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Question, then, because I’ve wondered this before: do all states require reasons to refuse to certify? Like, could a Trumpist official say, yeah, I know Harris won by two million votes, that’s exactly why I’m suspicious and negating those votes, or even just, I have the legal authority to refuse to certify, I don’t have to explain myself, fuck you? Again, if even one region’s laws are loose enough, doesn’t that screw the whole system up? Good questions. I can’t believe the election officials would have that loosey-goosey rules regarding certification. It would be like hanging your hat on being intimidating enough that you get the VP not to certify the final results, as Trump attempted to do on Jan 6. In any event, this is not really about “winning” an election so much as trying to squeak by on a technicality. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/492 "2024-08-12T00:13:17Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > We had one. In 2020. Yes and no. The Electoral College changes things. Isn’t that why Trump pushed to win Georgia by one vote? ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/493 "2024-08-12T00:50:45Z")
Possibly relevant discussion of enforcing the ministerial certification of votes (pdf): [https://protectdemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/PD\_County-Cert-WP\_v03.1.pdf](https://protectdemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/PD_County-Cert-WP_v03.1.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/494 "2024-08-12T00:52:51Z")
Then we need to make sure that any election officials who entertain thoughts of not properly certifying the election will do so at their peril. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/495 "2024-08-12T01:38:13Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > And not even succeed; just delay long enough, and it’ll work. Work how exactly? If there’s no certification, then Trump is not President. Period, full stop, end of story. Some combo of the courts solving the issue and/or Biden declaring a state of emergency takes place and Trump is still not President. I think even the current SCOTUS would balk at allowing Congress to unilaterally declare that GA’s electoral votes go to Trump even though they never received the requisite paperwork from Georgia’s SoS. And frankly, in that case, we really are into the Second American Civil War. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/496 "2024-08-12T01:40:54Z")
I thought that enough delays would throw the election to the House of Representatives, which would elect Trump? I may have been misunderstanding what I’ve read so far, though. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/497 "2024-08-12T01:56:39Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I thought that enough delays would throw the election to the House of Representatives, which would elect Trump? If you truly want to become and stay informed on these issues, this is the website: > **[Democracy Docket](https://www.democracydocket.com/)** > > The leading progressive platform for information, analysis and opinion about voting rights, elections and democracy. It sorts the wheat from the chaff. Marc Elias is the lawyer leading the charge in defending our elections and was chiefly responsible for successfully litigating the Trump voter fraud cases after 2020. There is a story directly on point for your concerns regarding election certification efforts by Republicans to suppress the results: > **[The Fight To Certify Elections Has Already Begun](https://www.democracydocket.com/opinion/the-fight-to-certify-elections-has-already-begun/)** > > From Marc | With fewer than 100 days until the election, Republicans are building an election subversion war machine. Vote. Vote. Vote. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/498 "2024-08-12T02:01:42Z")
Thanks very much for that link. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/499 "2024-08-12T02:03:51Z")
Most welcome. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/500 "2024-08-12T02:04:10Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I’m not sure I see a way out of it, if all those people need is one district or one friendly judge or other overseer. And not even succeed; just delay long enough, and it’ll work. Media coverage of election-denying officials have greatly exaggerated how much impact individual refusals to certify can really have. Significant procedural delays in election certification can’t be effected by single and small-group actors. Remedies already exist and the mousetraps are already sprung (see @Aspenglow ’s post above). No one’s being caught off-guard this time around. Further reading about the said remedies and certification safeguards in the post linked below. > [@Trump: In 4 years we’ll have it fixed. You won’t have to vote](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-in-4-years-we-ll-have-it-fixed-you-won-t-have-to-vote/1004870/256): > > Same topic as rocking\_chair’s video link – from the Stanford Law & Policy Review (Stanford University): [Certification and Non-Discretion: A Guide to Protecting the 2024 Election](https://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLER-WILDER-FINAL-1.pdf) (PDF, 48 pages, free to access). From the article’s abstract: While efforts to impede [election] certification are not new, never before have they been deployed on such a large and coordinated scale. For this reason, little academic attention has been paid to the mechanics of state certification frameworks. This Artic… ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/501 "2024-08-12T02:07:04Z")
Related link, for the wiki article outlining the statutory reforms made to the electoral count process, after the 2020 fiasco; > **[Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_Count_Reform_and_Presidential_Transition_Improvement_Act_of_2022)** > > The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022 is a revision of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, adding to procedures set out in the Constitution of the United States for the counting of electoral votes following a presidential election. It also amended the Presidential Transition Act. > It was passed and enacted by the 117th Congress and President Joe Biden in December 2022 as Division P of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. > The act is intended to prev... ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/502 "2024-08-12T02:13:07Z")
Given the president has the immunity of a king thanks to the Supreme Court, can’t Biden just exercise his presidental powers and stop whatever the Republicans plan to do? If we’re going to entertain crazy ideas to steal the election, has anyone put any thought into what an unrestrained executive branch might do? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592.md?page=26)