With Florida looking close in the presidential contest, the Sunshine State’s 29 electoral votes could be determined by the courts.
In September, former Vice President Joe Biden campaign formed a “special litigation” team of hundreds of lawyers to move forward with possible election challenges if the results are close in Florida.
With the sizable amount of lawyers the Biden campaign had hired, the campaign said it has assembled the largest election protection program in presidential campaign history.
A recent article from the Sarasota Herald Tribune referred to lawsuits already happening in Florida in the final days before the election.
“With the record number of ballots being cast in this year’s election, it’s a given there will be lawsuits,” said Jacksonville elections lawyer and legal analyst Lindsey Brock.
Brock told Florida Daily that the Democrats will try to focus on rejected vote by mail ballots, voting deadlines and voter intent. However, Brock said the Democrats’ election lawsuits could be “overkill.”
Florida Democrats say they have to take precautions, pointing to President Donald Trump’s repeated comments about voter fraud and mail-in ballots.
Tom Spencer, a lawyer and elections expert who is the vice president of the Lawyers Democracy Fund, said the Democrats will focus their legal challenges around racism and voter suppression.
“When the election doesn’t go their way, you can always expect the Democrats to play the race card and claim voter suppression,” Spencer said.
Asked if the U.S. Supreme Court could weigh in, Spencer said, “It’s quite possible.”
Spencer, who worked during the 2000 recount, predicted that litigation over delays in mail-in ballots, rejected ballots and delays in counting ballots could result in the Supreme Court ultimately determining the next president of the United States.
But Democrats won’t be the only ones with lawyers on hand. The Republicans and the Trump campaign also have legal teams ready to go.
If the lawsuits occur, Brock said that Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Broward and Hillsborough Counties will garner the most attention from both sides.
In 2018, the Florida election results had several lawsuits. Brock pointed out that most of the lawsuits that occurred came from the Democrats, including then U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s, D-Fla., campaign suing supervisors of elections from their own party.
Reach Ed Dean at ed.dean@floridadaily.com.
