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> Michigan case was dismissed by the judge ------------------------------------ Thor Hearne, an attorney for the Trump campaign, said he wanted an order direc
by mistermann 6y ago
> Michigan case was dismissed by the judge
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Thor Hearne, an attorney for the Trump campaign, said he wanted an order directing Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to require "meaningful access" for campaign poll watchers to the counting of state ballots, plus access to videotaped surveillance of ballot drop boxes installed around the state after Oct. 1.
Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens said the ballot counting in Michigan, which shows Democrat Joe Biden receiving about 150,000 more votes than Republican Donald Trump, was completed Thursday morning.
That made the access request moot, but Stephens said Benson already issued a directive for meaningful access for poll watchers at local ballot counting places. That directive arose from a separate recent lawsuit related to ensuring proper access during the coronavirus pandemic, with the associated social distancing requirements, she said.
As for the videotapes, Stephens said there is no legal basis for Benson to provide — or be expected to provide — access to video surveillance of ballot drop boxes installed by local officials.
A recent law passed by the Michigan Legislature requires video surveillance of ballot drop boxes installed after Oct. 1. But assistant Attorney General Heather Meingast said the law does not require Benson or her agency to track which boxes were installed after Oct. 1, let alone provide access to video. The ballot drop boxes are primarily a local function.
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Well that's reassuring.
> As was the PA case
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The president’s campaign argued that his supporters weren’t being allowed to monitor the tallying of mail-in ballots, but U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond instead argued the two sides to come to an agreement.
He suggested each party be allowed 60 observers inside a hall in the downtown Philadelphia convention center where the final ballots are being counted.
In Georgia, a judge dismissed a lawsuit from the Trump Campaign on Wednesday.
That case from the campaign claimed that a witness said that late-arriving ballots in one county had not been stored properly and may have been mixed in with timely ballots.
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Similarly reassuring.
Yes indeed, this is rock solid proof that nothing improper occurred.
- maxerickson 6y agoYou can't prove a negative. The point of my links is that there are not cases in court in Michigan or PA.
- mistermann 6y agoThe dismissals in your links were "interesting", at least based on the information contained within the links. You also said: "It's relatively difficult to pull off hoodwink when you've got adversarial observers standing there." But this being 2020 and the topic politics, he who makes the first assertion wins. Not that it matters really. Perception is reality, and the media has more control of the perception of Americans than any other entity. Welcome to a brave new world - enjoy your stay, citizen.
- aw1621107 6y ago> The president’s campaign argued that his supporters weren’t being allowed to monitor the tallying of mail-in ballots, but U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond instead argued the two sides to come to an agreement. Just a note on this; (part of?) the reason Judge Diamond asked the two sides to come to an agreement is because the plaintiffs admitted they already had observers in the room [0]: > During the hearing, a lawyer for the campaign admitted that “they had several representatives in the room,” according to a statement by the bipartisan board. In fact, the Republicans had at least 19 observers in the room during the afternoon, according to the statement. From a Twitter thread with quotes from the hearing livestream [1]: > Diamond: "I’m asking you as a member of the bar of this court: are people representing the Donald J Trump for president, representing the plaintiffs, in that room?" > Trump campaign lawyer: "Yes." > Diamond: "I'm sorry, then what's your problem?" [0]: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/trump-sues-to-halt-philadelphia-count-without-gop-observers-1 https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/trump-sues-to-halt... [1]: https://twitter.com/kadhim/status/1324485343274557443 https://twitter.com/kadhim/status/1324485343274557443
- mistermann 6y agoOk, now this is much more convincing, thank you for posting it. I swear, it's like a significant portion of the media is designed to sow dissent and outrage in society. If the links provided were questionable looking you might think twoice, but Detroit Free Press and CBSLocal at least sound like mainstream publications to me. Although considering the quality of their stories I guess that's not saying much. I honestly think it's highly questionable whether the unique combination of variables the USA has going on is sustainable much longer in this age, I think something's gotta give.
- aw1621107 6y agoYeah, the portrayal in that specific article is... less than ideal.
- lol2143651 6y agoAnd if you continue the colloquy you'll see the problem is the observers in the room were not allowed within several tens of feet of the ballots being counted, this making observation impossible. Hence why the judge ruled to allow observers closer.