We have looked at new protections that will help avert a MAGA Coup in How to Stop the (Real) Steal. As we get closer, it is important to understand the timeline of election after November 5th. Robert Hubbell explains in “Make a Plan for Election Night and Beyond“
“The final outcome of the election will not be known on election night. Gone are the days when staying up until 1:00 a.m. on Election Night would reveal “the winner.” Unless it is clear on Tuesday night that Kamala Harris will win several “sunbelt” states, it will be several days before the network prediction desks will be confident in predicting the presidential race.
There will likely be a “red mirage” on Election Night. As in 2016, 2018, and 2020, the election night counts will make it appear that Republicans are doing better than the final votes will show. Why? Some states require that same-day, in-person votes be counted first, which will exclude early voting and mail ballots—which tend to favor Democrats. See, e.g., New York Magazine, We May See Another ‘Red Mirage’ on Election Night 2024. So, do not panic! …
On election night, Trump will use the “red mirage” phenomenon to claim that he won and that the vote count should stop. He did so in 2016 and 2020 and will do so again in 2024. Don’t overreact….
Let the process play out. Try not to overreact to GOP lawsuits or delays in certifications. The last day for certifying the electors for each state is December 11, 2024 (the day on which each state’s executive issues “certificates of ascertainment”). That delay is intended to allow election challenges to play out in the courts. The Electoral Count Reform Act provides for expedited review by federal courts of appeal and the Supreme Court. The slates of electors meet in their respective states on December 17, 2024. The new House is sworn in, en masse by the Clerk, on January 3, 2025 at Noon. Mike Johnson—the outgoing Speaker—does not swear in the newly elected House members and cannot refuse to seat the newly elected members of Congress. Kamala Harris, the sitting vice president until January 20, 2025, presides over the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2025 at which time the electoral ballots are counted.”
So keep working. The best way to avert challenges is for us to win by as large as margin as possible. There is a limited time after November 5 for voters to correct errors in mail in or provisional ballots. If you can, train now for ballot curing in Pennsylvania or other states.
Stay tuned. I recommend Marc Elias’ Democracy Docket for legal updates. If protests or standouts are needed, Indivisible will organize nation-wide events.
In 2018, when we were losing the battle for the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, I attended a rally in DC. A grandaughter of Martin Luther King, Sr. spoke eloquently about the decades that Black Americans fought for their civil rights, and the ongoing fight for racial and criminal justice. She called upon us to stiffen our spines, and keep fighting for Democracy. I wish I had her exact words to quote, but that memory has been a guiding light for me. I do believe that Harris will win, and that we will flip the House. But no matter what happens, we have learned that the fight for Democracy, just as the fight for justice, is ongoing. We can and will prevail. The only way they win is if we stop fighting.