Texas Official Offers Reward for Proof of Fraud: Election Update
Experts Eye Dec. 8 as End to Election Fights: Election Update
(Bloomberg) -- A top Texas elected official is offering a cash reward for proof of election fraud. Former Obama administration officials argue the transition needs to start now. And Turkey’s leader congratulated President-elect Joe Biden.
Other Developments:
Top Texas Official Offers Cash Reward for Proof of Election Fraud
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick says he’ll offer cash rewards totaling up to $1 million for proof of election fraud.
Patrick, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump who helmed the president’s Texas campaign, said Tuesday that he would pay at least $25,000 for information that leads to an arrest or conviction for voter fraud. He advised tipsters to contact local law enforcement.
“President Trump’s pursuit of voter fraud is not only essential to determine the outcome of this election, it is essential to maintain our democracy and restore faith in future elections,” Patrick said.
Patrick may not have to pay out much.
Despite similar claims by Trump of widespread voter fraud in 2016, elections officials only identified a few dozen potential cases that year. In a typical election year, most fraud cases end up being shown to be clerical errors or people who died after casting a mail-in ballot.
Former Obama Officials Call for Transition to Begin (2:24 p.m.)
Former Barack Obama administration officials are calling for the Trump administration to begin transition work with Biden, warning that delays could hurt the fight against the coronavirus.
“We are losing vital time,” said former Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin. “This is serious from a national security issue. This is serious from the health issue that we’re facing right now.”
The Biden-Harris transition team has assembled a coronavirus task force, but without an official designation from the General Services Administration that Biden is the apparent winner, the team can’t access agency officials and documents -- including details about coronavirus vaccine research and supplies, said Leslie Dach, a senior Health and Human Services official under Obama.
Critical conversations among the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health cannot happen without the GSA determination, said Kathleen Sebelius, who was Health and Human Services secretary under Obama. She likened the delay to a “hostile takeover” by an administration reluctant to relinquish power and share information.
“What are those agencies missing right now” and what expertise is needed to prepare for a vaccination campaign? Sebelius asked. Biden and Harris’ coronavirus task force can get ready and develop recommendations, “but it can’t happen without a dialogue.” -- Jennifer A. Dlouhy
Erdogan Congratulates Biden on Winning (1:22 p.m.)
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had refrained from acknowledging Trump’s electoral defeat last week, sent a congratulatory note to Biden on Tuesday.
Addressing Biden as “Mr. President-Elect,” Erdogan said “I am confident that the strong cooperation and alliance between our nations will continue to make vital contributions to world peace in the future – as they have until today.”
Trump maintained close ties with his Turkish counterpart and declined to impose sanctions on Ankara for buying a Russian missile defense system, drawing criticism from members of Congress from both parties.
Erdogan’s message to Biden appeared aimed at mitigating the risks to U.S.-Turkish ties in a post-Trump era. The countries are at odds over policies in Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean, where Turkey’s assertive regional policies are being criticized by the U.S. political establishment as hurting American interests.
Erdogan and Biden have a mixed history. In August 2016, then-Vice President Biden visited Erdogan about a month after the Turkish leader thwarted a military coup and had accused traditional allies such as the U.S. of failing to show solidarity. “That’s why, Mr. President -- you’ve known me for a while -- that’s why I wanted to personally be here,” Biden told Erdogan in televised remarks then. “To tell you, all of your colleagues and your countrymen how very, very, very sorry I am, the president is, the American people are for the suffering and loss you have endured.”
But Biden’s stance toward the Turkish leader significantly changed during his presidential campaign. He told the New York Times that the U.S. should support the Turkish opposition against Erdogan. He also said he’d make the Turkish leader pay a heavy price for his actions, an apparent reference to Turkey’s operations in Syria. -- Onur Ant
International Observers Find No Evidence of Fraud in U.S. Election (12:19 p.m.)
Two teams of international observers said they found no evidence of fraud in the U.S. elections, despite Trump’s claims.
After observing polling places and ballot-counting centers across the country, the Organization of American States said in a preliminary report that elections officials handled things well.
While saying that Trump should be allowed to have his day in court, though, they also suggested that his unproven claims about massive fraud should be toned down.
Noting that they supported the right of candidates to “seek redress” through the courts, the observers wrote “it is critical” that they “act responsibly by presenting and arguing legitimate claims before the courts, not unsubstantiated or harmful speculation in the public media.”
A similar report last week from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe also noted that baseless allegations of fraud harm public trust in the election system.
Hawley Introduces Bill to Count Mail-Ins Faster (11:30 a.m.)
A Republican senator considered a potential 2024 presidential candidate has proposed a bill that would speed up the counting of mail-in ballots.
A vocal Trump advocate, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley has echoed the president’s unfounded concerns over the election results. But his new bill also includes a key provision sought by Democrats.
Hawley said in a statement issued Tuesday that the bill would require mail-in or absentee ballots be counted and recorded as soon as elections officials receive them, with the results not released until the close of polls.
That’s how vote-by-mail is handled in states like Arizona and Florida, which reported results quickly on Election Day.
But Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania and Michigan refused to update state laws this year to allow elections clerks to process mail-in ballots until after polls closed, leading to a slow count over several days.
Elections Experts Eye Dec. 8 as Next Key Date (10:30 a.m.)
Election experts are counting the days until Dec. 8, the deadline for legal challenges to be resolved.
Dec. 8 is the so-called “safe harbor” deadline, when any court challenges to the election results should be resolved in order for state electors to be automatically accepted by Congress. If a state misses that deadline, the process gets messy.
The safe harbor deadline could push judges, election officials and state lawmakers to resolve any outstanding questions. If they don’t, the states’ electors could be disputed in Congress, which hasn’t happened since the late 1800s.
The safe harbor deadline comes six days before the Electoral College meets on Dec. 14. The votes cast by electors on that day are then counted in Congress on Jan. 6.
Despite the ongoing challenges, legal experts anticipate the process will proceed on schedule.
Coming Up:
Biden will speak at 2 p.m. on the Affordable Care Act in Wilmington, Del., as the Supreme Court considers a lawsuit to overturn it.
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