Election update

2023 - 3 - 9

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Image courtesy of "The Conversation UK"

Why the 2024 election cycle could result in more threats to US ... (The Conversation UK)

The 2024 presidential race is clearly under way and a repeat of 2020's contest between current president Joe Biden and Trump remains a strong possibility. There ...

[14 charges of involvement](https://berncoda.com/solomon-pena-indicted/) in the [shootings](https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/17/us/solomon-pena-arrested-new-mexico-shootings/index.html). [rejected](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/12/us/politics/jim-marchant-cisco-aguilar-nevada.html) a significant number of right-wing extremist candidates, many of whom were personally [endorsed](https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/numbers-trump-backed-candidates-fared-midterms-rcna61524) by Trump. During a panel discussion the Florida governor accused the press of using the case to intentionally “ [smear](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/10/us/politics/ron-desantis-news-media.html)” politicians. [Republicans In Name Only](https://politicaldictionary.com/words/rino/)). West](https://www.brookings.edu/experts/darrell-m-west/), a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told me that Trump showed “massive disregard for the procedural aspects of democracy and the rule of law”, and warned there are now several “Trump wannabes… [Ryan Enos](https://www.iq.harvard.edu/people/ryan-enos), he argued the dangers from a Trump victory in 2024 are real. [recent](https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/new-poll-shows-gops-divide-trump-desantis-rcna71046) opinion polls have Trump ahead of his Republican rivals. There are signs that some influential figures within the Republican party who oppose the former president are already mobilising to [block](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/02/09/gop-trump-2024-election-00081944) his path to the nomination. [soon](https://apnews.com/article/jill-biden-joe-biden-reelection-1659403d211d40212abbfef3b9847491). Several other [contenders](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/27/2024-gop-candidates-trump-00084608) are expected to declare their candidacy in the coming months, including Florida governor [Ron DeSantis](https://www.ft.com/content/a762a729-7c8e-411b-abb7-f63694712dfa). [retribution](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-stay-2024-presidential-race-indicted-tells-cpac/story?id=97628469).” These were the words of former US president Donald Trump during an address to the annual [Conservative Political Action Conference](https://www.conservative.org/) on March 4. In Cochise County, Arizona, [elections director Lisa Marra](https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/012623_marra_resignation/cochise-county-elections-director-resigns-after-protecting-midterm-ballots-from-republican-officials/) has resigned after coming under pressure [from two Republican supervisors](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/election-officials-say-democracy-still-risk-2024-rcna68308) for a recount of the ballots in the midterms.

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Image courtesy of "Zikoko!"

How to Challenge Election Results in Court (Zikoko!)

On March 1, Nigeria's electoral body, INEC, announced Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as Nigeria's president-elect, ...

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Image courtesy of "ProPublica"

Some Election Officials Refused to Certify Results. Few Were Held ... (ProPublica)

Election law experts explain how the rise in election officials who refuse to certify results reveals a weakness in the American electoral system.

[Election Security Act](https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/SB22-153), which mandates that the secretary of state certify a county’s results if it misses the deadline to do so. An attorney for Hall [argued in a subsequent document](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23698708-20230206_bob-hall-written-submission-re-surry-county-complaints) that “if left unchecked, Forestieri and DeHaan may be the first of many board members throughout the state and across the political spectrum who cannot be trusted to faithfully certify election results.” A spokesperson for the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office said that “our office is not aware of any legal consequences for that action” by the commissioners. [a letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23698715-referral-of-otero-county-commissioners) to the state’s attorney general notifying him of “multiple unlawful actions by the Otero County Commission” and asked for “a prompt investigation.” Faced with this, two of the commissioners switched their votes, certifying the election. At the beginning of the proceeding, DeHaan argued that the hearing itself was “illegal” because it was supposed to be held in the county the board members are from. (In Sandoval County, on the other side of the state, one commissioner [voted against certification](https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2022/06/17/facing-removal-from-office-criminal-charges-otero-county-certifies-election-results/), though the four others on the panel outvoted him.) And two — the ones in Surry County — are facing potential removal from their posts by the State Board of Elections. Local elections officials “could create chaos” all the way up the chain by refusing to certify, said Alice Clapman, a senior counsel in election law at the Brennan Center for Justice. A ProPublica review of 10 instances of local officials refusing to certify 2022 results in four states found that, for the majority of them, the state election authority did not ultimately pursue official consequences. DeHaan eventually agreed to join the three on a technicality, and the board certified the election with a 4-1 vote. Not long into the meeting, however, a staffer distributed [a letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23698700-hall-complaint-against-surry-county-board-members-w-exhibit) from two board members stating that they were refusing to certify. It was supposed to be a routine task, marking the end of a controversial season during which

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Image courtesy of "KWQC-TV6"

Special election results from March 7, 2023 (KWQC-TV6)

DAVENPORT, DURANT, CALAMUS-WHEATLAND, BETTENDORF, Iowa (KWQC) -Unofficial results have been tabulated in Scott, Clinton, Cedar, and Muscatine counties ...

430 (41.11%) 616 (58.89%) 1143 (41.13%)

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