December 9th – December 8th local time is one of the important nodes of the U.S. election, that is, the deadline for “safe harbor”. After 8 days, the election results certified by the states will be protected by federal law.
According to the official website of the National Archives of the United States, 31 states have officially submitted confirmation certificates, including five “battlefield states” that Trump initiated legal challenges. U.S. media believe that although the Trump campaign tried to downplay the importance of a “safe haven”, the arrival of this deadline still means that Trump’s efforts to overthrow the election results are nearing completion.
What is the “safe harbor”? The U.S.
Congressional Research Office and the Bipartisan Policy Research Center of the U.S. think tank pointed out that the U.S. electoral law requires states to resolve all election-related disputes six days before the Electoral College vote (December 14), and December 8, 2020 is the deadline for “safe havens”.
As long as a state submits certification before the deadline, the election results of the state are conclusive and legally binding when sent to Congress for statistics, and will be protected by federal law.
“Biden has won the presidential election, but on December 8, he is one step closer to the White House.” The New York Times wrote on the 8th that in a broad sense, the “safe harbor” deadline means that Trump’s efforts to overthrow the election results are nearing completion. On the same day, Biden campaign spokesman Michael Gwen said in a statement: “Trump lost in the ballot box, lost to the recount, and then in court, and the process is rapidly coming to a close.
And even if Trump’s strategy becomes more and more dangerous, it will not change the fact that Biden will be sworn in as president on January 20, 2021.”
However, this deadline does not mean that the lawsuits of Trump and his supporters will end.
The New York Times noted that lawyers for the Trump campaign downplayed the importance of the “safe harbor” deadline in a press release on the 8th, saying: “The election competition will last beyond December 8, which is not unprecedented.” “While 8 is the safe harbor deadline, the most important day is January 6, 2021 (the day Congress counts election votes and confirms the winner,” Ellis, senior legal counsel for the Trump campaign, told Fox Business.
The Associated Press mentioned that the Trump campaign and its supporters suffered defeats in court proceedings in Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin and Arizona last week.
The New York Times also pointed out that only a few lawsuits involving the state level have not been resolved. There are only three federal-level lawsuits, Wisconsin and Arizona, which are expected to end soon.
“The attitude of the Trump campaign and its supporters shows that even if they lose nearly 50 lawsuits, they still do not rule out filing more election-related lawsuits, but the odds of success of Trump’s lawsuits on one side will become less and less,” the New York Times said.
Reuters pointed out that once December 8 passed, Trump can still continue to push the lawsuit, but it will become more difficult.
Because the judge may say that it is too late to overturn the election results.
