By The Editors, RealClearInvestigations
December 7, 2020 (Latest Updates: Jan. 7, 2021)
In one corner, President Trump and his allies claim massive fraud and ballot irregularities cost him the 2020 election.
In the other, Democrats and sympathetic media allies argue that the vote was free and fair and that the charges of cheating amount to sour-grapes conspiracy mongering.
Many allegations advanced by the president, his surrogates and supporters have been challenged, debunked or dismissed by courts, notably Texas's challenge in the Supreme Court.
Still, in numerous instances, media fact checkers have not been diligent. They have simply run the allegations past state authorities and other officials who would have orchestrated the alleged fraud or had an interest in minimizing irregularities.
It was thus hardly surprising when the New York Times reported that it had called officials in every state and was told, as the headline said, that there was “No Evidence of Voter Fraud.” That’s the kind of statement that inspires skepticism because fraud is inevitable in any big election. The Times itself seemed to acknowledge just that in the article’s sub-headline, which said, without presenting evidence, that there were “no irregularities that affected the outcome.”
Of course, “irregularities” in a basic function of American democracy, even if they did not affect the outcome, remain a significant part of any election story -- not least 2020's, which saw unprecedented controversies. Below is a running, selective collection of hyperlinked articles detailing charges of irregularities or electronic fraud made in various states, especially key battlegrounds such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
The Latest
Washington and Electoral College
- Congress confirms Biden win, defying mob attack - NY Times
Earlier: Dec. 12, 2020-Jan. 5, 2021
U.S. Supreme Court and Washington
- GOP senators plan to vote against some results Jan. 6 - Wall Street Journal
- Judge dismisses Rep. Gohmert's attempt to force Pence to decide results - CBS
- Hawley to challenge Electoral College results in Senate - The Hill
- Official final tally: Biden, 306; Trump 232 - Associated Press
- Electors in 7 states cast dueling votes for Trump - Epoch Times
- 'Immaculate Deception': White House aide Navarro on the election - PR Newswire
- 7 takeaways from a Senate panel's hearing on election fraud - Daily Signal
- Ex-Trump lawyer Powell asks high court to nullify 2 Biden wins - Bloomberg
- Amistad report: Zuckerberg $419M in donations funded "shadow government running our elections” - Breitbart
Dominion Voting Systems
- Fraud analyst finds average of 2 to 3% shift for Biden in counties using Dominion - Epoch Times
- ‘Adjudication’ feature scrutinized as audit reveals high error rate - Epoch Times
Arizona
- GOP subpoenas Maricopa County to audit scanned ballots, Dominion Voting machines - Epoch Times
Georgia
- Runoffs ahead, Georgia is not prosecuting its many double voters - Paul Sperry, RCInvestigations
- Conducting statewide ‘signature match review’ of absentee ballots - Daily Wire
Michigan
- Judge orders release of report showing Dominion Voting Systems had 68% error rate in Antrim County - Just the News
Earlier: Nov. 29-Dec. 12
U.S. Supreme Court and Washington
- Sydney Powell takes her case to the Supreme Court - Epoch Times
- Supreme Court rejects Texas challenge to Biden's victory - Wall Street Journal
- Texas sues four battleground states, calling pandemic election changes unconstitutional - Texas Tribune
- Trump and 17 states back Texas bid in Supreme Court to undo his election loss -Yahoo News
- Majority of House GOP caucus backs Texas election challenge - Axios
- GOP leaders block affirmation of Biden as president elect - Politico
- 27 House Republicans seek special counsel - Texas Rep. Lance Gooden letter
- Barr: No evidence of fraud that would change vote outcome - Associated Press
Arizona
- Last pending court challenge thrown out - Arizona Republic
- FBI investigating voter data theft - Forbes
- Data expert: between 120,000 and 306,000 fake people cast ballots - NTD Television
- Maricopa GOP chairwoman: Trump votes credited to Biden - Capitol Times
- Anonymous: 35,000 illegal votes for Democratic candidates - Daily Signal
Georgia
- Infographic: What happened in Atlanta on election night - Epoch Times
- State recertifies election results - New York Times
- Federal court dismisses Sydney Powell lawsuit and she moves to appeal - Epoch Times
- Trump campaign files suit seeking new statewide election - Reuters
- House Republicans seek mail-ballot process review before Jan. 5 runoff - Epoch Times
- Chief investigator: No 'mystery ballots' seen in security video - Washington Examiner
- Attorney L. Lin Wood: All 900 Fulton Co. military ballots for Biden - sdfish.com
- Wood: Video shows ballots shredded - Cobb County Courier
- Data analyst: 40,000 ballots illegally cast by people who had moved - NTD video
- Ex-gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams group investigated for seeking to “register “ineligible, out-of-state, or deceased voters” before Jan. 5 Senate runoffs - Fox News
Michigan
- Federal judge rejects lawsuit from Sydney Powell - Detroit Free Press
- Judge allows probe of Dominion machines in Antrim County - Fox News
- Four takeaways from the state Senate's vote fraud hearing - Daily Signal
Nevada
- Voter group notifies DoJ of Pakistani link - Epoch Times
-
Nevada GOP to appeal judge’s refusal to nullify Biden win - Associated Press
- Native American voter advocacy group “handed out gift cards, electronics, clothing” in tribal areas, and on Facebook some recipients documented the exchanges for votes while wearing Biden campaign gear - The Federalist
- Trump legal team: Audit finds 2 percent of ballots cast in the name of people who said they never received a ballot and 1 percent by those who said they never filled one out - PJ Media
- Mail ballots were sent to abandoned businesses - Public Interest Legal Foundation
- Trump representatives said more than 1,500 ballots may have been cast by dead voters and that 42,248 people voted “multiple times” - Washington Examiner
- Witness: Early voting tallies in Carson County were inexplicably changed on election night - Hearing transcript
- Whistleblower affidavit: Clark County supervisors accepted ballots despite concerns regarding required signatures - Washington Examiner
North Carolina
- Noncitizens found in voting, jury pools - Washington Examiner
Pennsylvania
- Supreme Court rejects Republican challenge to vote - New York Times
- Justice Samuel Alito moves up U.S. Supreme Court deadline in mail ballot case - Epoch Times
- Lawsuit: Up to 280,000 ballots ‘disappeared’ after postal contractor's trip from New York - Epoch Times
- Tens of thousands of ballots returned earlier than sent date, researcher says - Epoch Times
- Mail carrier says he was ordered to collect late ballots for backdating - Washington Times
- Pittsburgh ballots sent to vacant lots - Public Interest Legal Foundation
Wisconsin
- Postal employees backdated mail ballots and nursing home staffers pressured elderly voters: witnesses - Daily Signal
- State Supreme Court deals Trump challenges third defeat in 30 hours - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Sidney Powell
- Powell takes her case to the Supreme Court - Epoch Times.
- A former member of Trump’s legal team, Powell has filed lawsuits in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan alleging, as ABC News put it, “a complex plot involving shadowy foreign interests” (including Venezuela, China and Iran) as well as Dominion Voting Systems; Republican elected officials, and Democratic poll workers – "all allegedly in cahoots to steal the election from Trump.” This graphic details other claims made by Powell.
Week of Nov. 22-28
California
- Los Angeles prosecutors uncover scheme in which thousands of fraudulent ballots were cast - Just the News
Michigan
- Detroit worker swears she witnessed thousands of ballots being falsified - Just the News
Pennsylvania
- Large numbers of voters say their absentee votes weren't counted or someone else requested their mail-in ballot - Just the News
- Abnormally low number of rejected ballots - Just the News
Also
Nov. 8-21
Georgia
- A sudden surge of some 20,000 mail-in votes for Joe Biden in the greater Atlanta area while some 1,000 votes for President Trump mysteriously disappeared - Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations
Nevada
- Election supervisors in Clark County counted mail-in ballots despite concerns that the signatures were invalid, according to a whistleblower's affidavit - Washington Examiner
- People inside a Biden-Harris van were witnessed opening, filling out, and resealing mail ballots, a whistleblower alleged - Epoch Times
Pennsylvania
- Researcher: Tens of thousands of ballots returned earlier than sent date - Epoch Times
Texas
- Social worker accused of 134 counts of fraudulently casting ballots for intellectually challenged clients - Attorney General's Office
Wisconsin
- Election officials used potentially illegal administrative policies that could disqualify tens of thousands of ballots - Just the News
Nov. 1-7
Pennsylvania
- Supervisors ordered a mail carrier to collect and submit late ballots, the carrier alleged, which supervisors then backdated so that they appeared to have been mailed in time - Washington Times
Texas
- Bid to toss nearly 127,000 votes cast via drive-through voting during early voting period in Harris County - SCOTUS Blog
More
- Coverage of election irregularities and challenges - Epoch Times
- 2020 Election Litigation Tracker - SCOTUSblog, Election Law at Ohio State
- A Guide to 2020 Election Laws and Lawsuits - ProPublica
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