Democrats, Republicans battle over election rules in Harris-Trump face off

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00:00The U.S. presidential contest between the Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald

00:09Trump features an array of legal battles over how the votes are cast and counted that are

00:14likely to last beyond Election Day on November 5th. Such disputes concern 97 out of the 270

00:20electoral college votes the candidates need to win. Qualifications or disqualifications

00:25will leave Georgia voters with the choice of four presidential candidates, Harris for

00:29the Democrats, Trump for the Republicans, Libertarian Chase Oliver and the Green Party's

00:34Jill Stein. Now let's take a look at how this is reflected in other places.

00:42Here in Arizona, laws enabling counties to invalidate registrations of voters who have

00:46moved out of state are in place under a federal appeals ruling. Voting rights groups argue

00:51that the legislation unfairly targets voter registration efforts. Last month, the U.S.

00:56Supreme Court approved a Republican request to partially revive an Arizona law requiring

01:01proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration. Over in Georgia, the Republican-leaning electoral

01:08board has given the green light to a controversial rule requiring ballots to be counted by hand.

01:13The move has prompted criticism from both Democratic and Republican officials.

01:18There are several things that concern me about this. Number one, I do think it's too

01:20close to the election. I do. I think that it's too late to train a lot of poll workers

01:26that have already started their training processes and to go back and have to retrain them on

01:30something like this. I think there's a lack of resources in many counties to effectuate

01:35this rule. The board has also adopted rules giving county

01:39officials more power to question vote results. This could potentially allow Trump allies

01:44to prevent certification if he loses. Further north in Michigan, the Republican

01:49National Committee has filed a string of lawsuits questioning the way absentee ballots are counted

01:54in the state. The RNC has also sued in Nevada, along with the Trump campaign, to force officials

02:00to check that registered voters are American citizens.

02:05Earlier this month, a court in North Carolina denied a request from the RNC that sought

02:09to block the state from accepting digital ID cards issued by the University of North

02:13Carolina at polling places. The committee is appealing the decision, a move which, if

02:19successful, could make it harder for students to vote.

02:23In Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court decided that mail ballots cannot be accepted if they

02:28do not bear the correct date on their outer envelope, a move that voting rights groups

02:32insist will nullify thousands of legitimate ballots.

02:35Meanwhile, the Supreme Court in Wisconsin is looking into a case that would ban mobile

02:39voting sites. Some Republicans argue that their repeated use could increase the risk

02:44of voter fraud.

03:05Bear with me a bit here, Mark, because we're going to get a bit into the weeds, but I promise

03:11you it is important. Nebraska, in 1991, changed the way that it awards its electoral college

03:17votes. It has five of them, and it's changed it from being a winner-takes-all state to

03:22a kind of more proportional state.

03:24We're going to throw a map up for you now, and you'll see that Nebraska has three main

03:29zones. So two of the state's five electoral college votes go to the winner. That's the

03:34outright. But then there are three others, the three colors that you can see on your

03:38map there, the green, which is the third congressional district, the red, which is the first congressional

03:45district. Those two tend to both go Republican.

03:48But what we're going to look at is the bluey green on your map, which is the second congressional

03:54district. That was won by Donald Trump in 2016, but it was won by Joe Biden in 2020

04:01and has been won by Democrats before, like Barack Obama. Now, Joe Biden won that congressional

04:06district by 6.5 percent, and it's averaging about that for Kamala Harris at the moment.

04:11So why is that important? Well, let me give you a hypothetical. Imagine that Kamala Harris

04:15does what Joe Biden was hoping to do and wins the Northern Blue Wall, so Michigan, Wisconsin

04:21and Pennsylvania, but then say Donald Trump wins all the Sunbelt states, the swing states

04:26on the bottom of the country that are still up for grabs as well, including Arizona, Nevada,

04:32Georgia and North Carolina. Well, in that case, Kamala Harris would win the election

04:36with 270 electoral votes. That is because one of those votes comes from that second

04:42congressional district, which is over in Nebraska.

04:45Now, the Republicans are trying to change the electoral map in in Nebraska so that it

04:51becomes a winner takes all state like every other nation, every other state in the nation,

04:55aside from from Maine. If that happens and the electoral map looked like I just laid

05:00out, then we would be at a situation where it was 268 votes to 268 electoral college

05:06votes. Remember, you need 270 to win. So therefore, we're in an electoral tie. What happens in

05:11that situation? It then goes to Congress. It goes down to the House to decide who is

05:16going to be the president. They all vote. Donald Trump has the has the advantage in

05:21the House because there are more Republicans in the House, which would mean that Donald

05:24Trump would win the election. So it has become a bit of a battleground, albeit not a traditional

05:29battleground state. But there has been movement on this over the last 20 or so years, and

05:36the Republicans are still trying to get this changed. And that is an effort that has been

05:41reignited now thanks to Donald Trump. If you want a bit of an idea of how seriously the

05:45Democrats are taking this Kamala Harris's ad campaign, as well as Joe Biden before her

05:51and the House race that's going on in the second congressional district. So far, they've

05:55spent a total of $15 million just in that one congressional district, which is mainly

06:01in the city of Omaha, Nebraska, a population of fewer than 500,000 people. $15 million

06:07spent there compared to the Republicans spending just $200,000. So an important toss up that

06:14could come down to prove quite pivotal on Election Day.

06:20And what is the likelihood then, Fraser, of Nebraska changing the way that it gives

06:24out Electoral College votes?

06:25Well, really, there's just one man standing in the way of Nebraska changing that. His

06:31name is Mike McDonnell. He is a state senator for Nebraska. He was previously a Democrat,

06:38but switched to the Republican side of the aisle after he was censured by the Democrats

06:42in Nebraska for a vote which effectively led to abortion rights being restricted in the

06:49state. Since then, he has now moved to the Republican side, and it was him, his one single

06:54vote, which blocked this from being able to go through the state legislature there in

06:59Nebraska. The reason for that, he says, he said, didn't seem fair was the main one, really.

07:04That's why he kiboshed it. But the main one, he says, is that it really gives Omaha some

07:08national importance, which it certainly does. A lot of headlines are now swirling around

07:12this, especially since his single vote blocked this from becoming a reality. He also says

07:16it brings money into the city. Remember that $15 million that I've just mentioned? And

07:21he also says that it makes the politicians work for the votes of people in Nebraska.

07:26Well, the Republicans are not happy about the fact that this Republican, one of their

07:31own, blocked this from happening. Donald Trump took to Truth Social, saying, unfortunately,

07:36a Democrat turned Republican state senator named Mike McDonnell decided for no reason

07:41whatsoever to get in the way of a great Republican common sense victory. Just another grandstander.

07:48So not happy, Donald Trump is. But arguably, the Democrats will be on the upside of that

07:52argument and elated that things are remaining the way they are, as the status quo continues.

07:57Fraser Jackson, keep up the good work. Great to see you, sir. Fraser Jackson there near

08:01the White House, as ever, keeping his finger on the pulse of US politics for us. And we

08:06will bring you all developments on the campaign as we get them in this special Zoom-in every

08:10day.

08:11Stay with us.

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