Trump Campaign's Last-Ditch Efforts to Dispute Election Fizzling Out

As President-elect Joe Biden gains momentum in the electoral process, the Trump campaign's desperate attempts to dispute the election are slowly unraveling, but not before sowing doubt and spreading conspiracy theories among supporters. Republicans in battleground states like Michigan, Arizona, and Georgia are attempting to gum up the certification process, but their efforts are unlikely to change the outcome of the election.

Key Takeaways:

• The Trump campaign's options to dispute the election have largely evaporated, but local Republican officials are trying to block certification of election results in battleground states.
• In Michigan, two Republican members of the canvassing board in Wayne County temporarily blocked certification of the election results before backing down.
• The wife of a Republican member of the state board in charge of certifying results next week is being held out as a witness by the Trump campaign in a lawsuit trying to block the certification of the vote.
• In Arizona's Pima County, two GOP members of the county board of supervisors voted against certifying the election results, citing possible "statewide irregularities."
• Rudy Giuliani, representing the Trump campaign, argued in a Pennsylvania courtroom that the Trump campaign has been blocked from observing ballot processing in key cities and conspiracy theories are unfounded or wrong.
• Trump's lies are swaying his supporters, with 68% of Republicans saying they are concerned that the election was "rigged" and 52% of GOP respondents saying Trump "rightfully won."
• A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 77% of Trump supporters said Biden's win was due to fraud, but claims of fraud are not holding up in court.

Statistics:

• Biden leads by tens of thousands of votes in all of the states Trump's campaign is contesting or where there's a recount.
• The average change in the number of votes in recounts since 2000 has been a few hundred, according to research from the nonpartisan group FairVote.
• About 5 million Georgians voted in the presidential election, and Biden won by about 13,000 votes.
• Biden is ahead by more than 140,000 votes in Michigan.

Sources:

• CNN: "Michigan election officials: Trump campaign's claims of voter fraud 'not credible'"
• Reuters/Ipsos poll: "Majority of Republicans say election was rigged, poll finds"
• Monmouth University poll: "77% of Trump supporters believe election was stolen"
• FairVote: "Voter Turnout in the United States: Trends and Analysis"
• Bridge Michigan: "Norm Shinkle says he won't judge case by campaign's claims"