First come the results, then come the lawsuits. How AGs, lawyers have prepared

ATLANTA — Across the country, state attorneys general, campaign lawyers and election-related groups have been preparing for a potential flood of lawsuits over the election results.

Even before the election, there were a number of lawsuits in courts in battleground states over state voter registration lists, last-minute changes to election rules, requirements for counting mail-in ballots and whether local counties must certify results. The founder of a frequent litigator that has challenged registration rolls, United Sovereign Americans, told USA TODAY in October that he was already planning to sue after the results were announced.

In an October internal memo obtained by USA TODAY, lawyers for the Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee said they were preparing for post-election court battles since former President Donald Trump tried to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in the election to overturn the year 2020.

“We have been planning for four years to win not only at the ballot box but also in the courts and ensure another free and fair election,” wrote Dana Remus and Monica Guardiola, lawyers with senior positions in the Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee , respectively.

Claire Zunk, communications director for the Republican National Committee’s Election Integrity Initiative, described the Republican election process as an “unprecedented” commitment to protecting legal votes.

“With over 230,000 volunteers dedicated to protecting the vote, this is the most robust election integrity operation the party has ever seen,” Zunk said in a statement to USA TODAY.

Attorneys general describe the country as nervous

Several lawyers who spoke to USA TODAY about the legal preparations for 2024 noted that Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 results were a major factor. These efforts culminated in the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021.

“We had to be ready because there are people who, no matter what the outcome of the election, will claim (victory),” said Keith Ellison, the Democratic attorney general of Minnesota.

Ellison said his office has prepared for various contingencies, such as a local county refusing to certify the results. Local certification is part of the process of confirming and formalizing state election results.

Since 2020, dozens of local county officials across the country have delayed or denied certification. However, so far none of these efforts have actually produced any results. In October, a judge in Georgia ruled that county officials in his state must certify the results by the deadline, which falls on Nov. 12 this year.

In two municipal elections in July, a majority of the Board of Elections for Reno, Nevada’s Washoe County, voted against certification, although some changed course and the election was certified about a week later.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, told USA TODAY that certification is just one of the issues his office is using to ensure it is ready for litigation after Election Day. The state has already seen legal battles by Republican groups over voter registration lists and the deadline for receiving mail-in ballots in the state.

“Nobody thought about, I don’t think, what happened in 2020,” Ford said. “We’re much more prepared this time.”

Asked by USA TODAY at a news conference Tuesday about his preparation for possible lawsuits after Election Day, Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said his office is “battle-tested” and has a process in place.

Voting rights groups are preparing

Longtime voting rights groups are also preparing for what could be a new legal landscape after Election Day.

Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said the committee represented the NAACP in 15 cases between Election Day 2020 and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He sees lawsuits in Georgia over precinct certification and whether thousands of poll workers would suddenly have to count their ballots by hand in this year’s election as “dress rehearsals” for what could come to court after Tuesday.

“We can’t afford for this to be a Republican-Democrat or candidate-candidate thing,” Hewitt said.

Stephanie Owens, senior voting rights counsel for the NAACP, said the national organization took some legal action leading up to the election, including intervening in a lawsuit over the hand-counting rule. The Georgia Supreme Court decided not to weigh in on the matter until Tuesday after a trial court concluded the rule was unlawful.

“There are several measures that we have taken and continue to take with our partners, mostly preventative, to ensure that we don’t have to have as many of these fights on Election Day and beyond,” Owens said.

‘F*** around and find out’: Nevada AG warns of election violence

Nevada’s Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford said his office is not only preparing for possible lawsuits but is also prepared to combat any political violence following the election.

Governors in several states, including Nevada’s Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, activated the National Guard to be ready to support local law enforcement on Election Day. Local offices have prepared to protect poll workers with panic buttons and bulletproof glass.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner issued a stark warning Monday to anyone considering engaging in violence during the election.

“I also want to make it clear that anyone who thinks it’s time to play militia, play around and find out,” Krasner said.

Ford reiterated that message on Tuesday.

“I’m going to say what was said in Philadelphia, pardon my French, but let them play around and figure it out,” Ford told USA TODAY. “We will actually prosecute those who break the law when it comes to voter intimidation.”

Attorneys general describe the country as nervous

Voting rights groups are preparing

‘F*** around and find out’: Nevada AG warns of election violence

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