NEW YORK
\nIn Arizona, one of seven competitive US states that are expected to decide the 2024 presidential election, an advocacy group founded by Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller is advancing a bold legal theory: that judges can throw out election results over \u201cfailures or irregularities\u201d by local officials.
\nThe lawsuit by the America First Legal Foundation, a conservative advocacy group, says the court in such cases should be able to toss the election results and order new rounds of voting in two counties in Arizona, where Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris is leading Trump in the polls by a razor-thin margin.
\nAlmost four years after former president Trump and his allies tried and failed to overturn his election defeat with a flurry of more than 60 hastily arranged lawsuits, Republi\u00adcans have launched an aggressive legal campaign laying the groundwork to challenge potential losses.
\nThe Republican National Com\u00admittee says it is involved in more than 120 lawsuits across 26 states, in a strategy that some legal experts and voting rights groups say is meant to undercut faith in the system.
\nRepublicans say the lawsuits are aimed at restoring faith in elections by ensuring people don\u2019t vote illegally. Trump and his allies have falsely claimed that his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden was tainted by widespread fraud.
\nWhile the Arizona case is likely a long shot, legal experts say it fits with a pattern of Republican-backed lawsuits that appear aimed at sowing doubts about the legitimacy of the election before it occurs and providing fodder for challenging the results after the fact.
\nThis is part of creating the narrative that there will be irregularities that will require outside intervention,\u201c said Columbia Law School professor Richard Briffault.
\nAmerica First Legal Foundation, its lawyers and Miller did not respond to inquiries.
\nA spokesperson for the Republican National Committee said the party\u2019s top priority is fixing what they say are problems with voting systems before Election Day to ensure no ballots are illegally cast.
\n\u201cOur Election Integrity operation is fighting to secure the election, promoting transparency and fairness for every legal vote. This gives voters confidence that their ballot will be counted properly, and in turn, inspires voter turnout,\u201d said RNC spokesperson Claire Zunk.
\nTrump and Harris are locked in a tight battle ahead of the November 5 election, fuelling a wave of litigation by both Democrats and Republicans as they spar over the ground rules.
\nRepublicans typically sue to enforce restrictions on voting that they say are necessary to prevent fraud, while Democrats generally ask courts to keep voting accessible.
\nThe Harris campaign said in a statement that Republicans are \u201cscheming to sow distrust in our elections and undermine our democracy so they can cry foul when they lose.\u201d \u201cTeam Harris-Walz enters the home stretch of this campaign with a robust voter and election protection operation and the best lawyers in the country, ready for any challenge Republicans throw at us. We will give Americans the free and fair election they deserve so all eligible voters can vote and have that vote counted,\u201d the campaign said.
\nIn Michigan, another closely contested state, Republicans are suing to prevent state agencies from expanding access to voter registration, restrict the use of mobile voting sites like vans and impose tighter verification rules for mail-in ballots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK In Arizona, one of seven competitive US states that are expected to decide the 2024 presidential election, an advocacy group founded by Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller is advancing a bold legal theory: that judges can throw out election results over \u201cfailures or irregularities\u201d by local officials. The lawsuit by the America First […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434503,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-434485","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n