MACON, Ga. — As the race for the Presidency narrows, many states, including Georgia, are seeing legal challenges from the Trump campaign.
So what do they mean?
We spoke to David Oedel, a constitutional law professor at Mercer University and Claire Sanders, a senior political science and public administration lecturer at Georgia College to find out.
The Trump campaign has filed legal challenges in some of these battleground states, including Georgia. What do they mean?
"Some of them are observational, some of them are saying 'hey we weren't allowed to observe.' Some of them are about outright fraud saying 'hey look, it looks like kind of cooking up the votes,'" says Oedel.
Have they or will they go anywhere?
"They're all reasonable challenges," he says. "Is it going to make a difference in this election? If I were a betting man, I'd say probably not."
He says that's because the complaints about observing the count are past the point of correction, since most of the ballots have already been processed.
Is it unusual to see so many legal challenges post election?
"I would say it's normal to see litigation after elections, particularly when they're this close and this contested," says Sanders. "What we generally see after an election are lawsuits that challenge whether or not election officials were following the law."
Is there a certain threshold of evidence the campaign would have to present for these challenges?
"Whenever there's an election dispute, there's a legal precedent that we err on the side of voter intent," she says. "Judges are looking for that evidence and they're also looking at would it have changed the outcome?"
With the race so close right now, what could trigger a recount in Georgia?
"All that needs to happen to trigger that recount is the less than one half of a percent and a candidate requesting in writing within two days of certifying the election to have that recount," says Sanders.
Do you think that's likely?
"I think we will definitely see a recount in Georgia," she says. "We've seen this process take place this week of counting the ballots and a recount means that we'll do that all over again."
She says it could take just as long as it did the first time.
Who would pay for that?
"This is going to cost the counties and the state government, but primarily the counties, because the counties are responsible for hiring poll workers and the local election administrative structures."
What should people look out for in the coming days and weeks in terms of the election?
"I think you're definitely going to see recounts in the states that allow for recounts like in Georgia, I think Wisconsin is going to undergo a recount, so I think you're definitely going to see recounts. I think you're definitely going to see more litigation, especially if the races get any tighter."