[imagesource: Steve Helber / AP Photo]

If you would like a really concise answer, let’s go with not at all.

Ultimately, what we are looking at here is all to do with protecting the world’s most fragile ego, because Donald Trump cannot, and will not, admit that he lost.

Having called Joe Biden the “worst candidate in the history of presidential politics”, Trump is now just following through on what he said he would do months ago, before a single vote had been cast.

Whilst his Republican party lackeys will fall into line, backbones having evaporated in fear of a tweet from the president that calls them out, mounting a serious legal battle related to voter fraud in court requires actual evidence.

This isn’t going to be found by a campaign so inept that it booked the wrong Four Seasons in Pennsylvania, holding a press conference in a parking lot near a crematorium and an adult-video store called Fantasy Island, rather than the esteemed hotel.

As John Oliver pointed out, you can’t find what isn’t there, either.

Sky News decided to look at some of the legal challenges launched thus far, and how those have played out.

Georgia:

The Trump campaign filed a lawsuit to require Chatham County, which includes the city of Savannah, to separate and secure late-arriving ballots to ensure they are not counted.

They were challenging 57 absentee ballots.

However, a Superior Court judge rejected the lawsuit last week after county officials testified that the ballots had arrived on time.

According to the latest numbers, Biden leads in Georgia by around 14 000 votes. A recount will take place, with the margin between the candidates well within the 0,5% required for that request to be granted.

Since 2000, however, recounts in 31 states have only changed the results three times, with those margins far lower than the 14 000 votes that currently separate Biden and Trump.

Then there’s Nevada:

The Trump campaign asked for emergency relief to stop the counting of “improper votes” in Democrat-leaning Clark County, home to Las Vegas, and said it was filing a federal lawsuit…

The lawsuit has since been rejected, finding no evidence Clark County did anything unlawful, and the state is projected to be won by Joe Biden with 97% of the votes counted.

Biden currently leads by in excess of 36 000 votes, with an estimated 64 000 left to count.

Pennsylvania:

There have been multiple lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania. They don’t seem to pan out well for Trump:

Montgomery County to stop counting mail-in ballots, alleging 600 votes were not placed in secrecy envelopes. Although this is ongoing, data shows the county had overwhelmingly voted for Mr Biden…

Intervention over whether ballots received after 8pm on election day should count. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) could take this case, but some legal experts say any ruling would be unlikely to change the outcome of the election.

Biden currently leads by in excess of 45 000 votes, with around 43 000 votes still to be counted. Trump has still not conceded this state.

In Wisconsin, a recount is likely to take place, although Biden leads Trump by around 20 000 votes in the state.

In Michigan, the Trump campaign lost a lawsuit to halt vote-counting, and the courts also rejected a suit calling for a halt to the vote certification process in Detroit.

Arizona remains tight, with Biden leading by just shy of 13 000 votes, with an estimated 40 000 votes left to count.

The Trump campaign has filed a lawsuit alleging ballots were rejected because they contained “bleeds”, “splotches” and “stray marks”.

Election officials say these claims are false, and even without a victory in this state Mr Biden would still have won the election.

Shall we hear from a few legal eagles? Sure:

Professor Douglas told Sky News: “The lawsuits seem frivolous without any real chance of materially affecting the outcome of the election.

“The only thing they can do is delay matters and further muddy the waters – which might be Trump’s aim in the first place.”

Professor Robert Tsai, law professor at the American University Washington College of Law, said: “From my examination of the lawsuits so far, they look like a bit of a desperation ploy.”

We could go on, but all of the legal professors are saying the same thing.

Here’s Benjamin Ginsberg, a veteran Republican election lawyer, speaking with CNN:

[He] said that the Trump campaign “was a long way from nowhere” in its quest to overturn the outcome of the election.

“To win cases, they have to put enough results into play to change the outcome of the election in individual states and in none of the suits they have filed around the country are they anywhere close to doing that in any state,” Ginsberg said on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”

You know what doesn’t help, either? Stuff like this:

Uhh, the Trump campaign plastered its headquarters with a fake newspaper front page that never existed, then its communications director tweeted out the image. (H/t to @KFILE) pic.twitter.com/1OmhOCEPbh

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 8, 2020

Frivolous, desperate, and the final flailings of a man too juvenile to admit defeat with a semblance of grace.

All the while, instead of participating in a handover to the next administration, for the good of the country, he’ll continue to cry foul, whilst his appointee refuses to sign the paperwork to set those wheels in motion.

In a word, sad.

For a step-by-step guide of what happens from here on out, let’s finish with Robert Reich, an economic adviser, professor, author, and political commentator who served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton.

He was also a member of President Barack Obama’s economic transition advisory board.

[source:skynews&cnn]