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Trump has been claiming that the voting was flawed and there were many problems. At this point (December 16th, 2020), the Electoral College vote has been completed and Biden won. Is there any legally possible way for Trump to still turn this election or is it past the point of no return?

(I understand that this is very improbable. I am simply interested in what could theoretically happen over here.)

Ian Kemp
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Burt
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    Would Trump launching a military coup count as "legal"? – nick012000 Dec 17 '20 at 10:46
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    Hmmm. OP, are you secretly a member of the Trump campaign legal team? – ARich Dec 18 '20 at 02:38
  • @ARich even if I was I probably wouldn't tell you :) – Burt Dec 18 '20 at 20:03
  • @nick012000: Would Trump have enough support among those "losers" and "suckers" to even attempt a coup? – jamesqf Dec 19 '20 at 02:43
  • The Q's tail end "just asking questions" seems disingenuous. – agc Dec 20 '20 at 06:10
  • @agc the reason I added in the ending was because I was afraid of comments that were simply political leadings and comments. The question was later edited to emphasize the legal aspect, which I suppose does make that last part unnecessary. – Burt Dec 20 '20 at 15:04
  • @Burt, Perhaps it'd be better if the Q. were abstracted to presidents in general, rather than a topical particular instance. That is, the answer to this topical Q. is obviously "no" -- whereas the question could be about under what rare circumstance would it be possible. – agc Dec 21 '20 at 15:17

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At this point (after the Electoral College has voted), Trump would have to convince a majority of the members of each the House and the Senate to get another term. Those majorities would have to agree to toss out enough electoral votes from states they wish to contest to prevent Biden from reaching 270.

At that point, the House of Representatives would get to vote for president, with each state getting one vote. That could result in Trump winning, though the margins would be tight and some reps could get cold feet about circumventing the will of their state's voters.

If the house's state delegations cannot agree to a majority, the Speaker of the House would assume office when Trump and Pence's turn expires on Jan 20th 2021.

Machavity
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dandavis
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    The first step is to find one Senator to challenge the EC vote, several House members appear to be on board already. That then throws it to the vote in both houses. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/senate-gop-electoral-college-vote-rand-paul-b1774514.html – Jontia Dec 17 '20 at 13:34
  • Unless the Senate picks a VP by then, no? – Azor Ahai -him- Dec 17 '20 at 15:41
  • I don't know, but I've never thought about the idea of picking a VP before picking a president @AzorAhai-him- What did you have in mind? – Mast Dec 17 '20 at 20:18
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    @mast the contingent election for the VP is decided in the Senate, where each Senator gets a vote. – Azor Ahai -him- Dec 17 '20 at 20:25
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    "though the margins would be tight and some reps could get cold feet about circumventing the will of their state's voters." Would it require reps going against how their state voted? – Acccumulation Dec 17 '20 at 22:16
  • @AzorAhai-him- so it is technically possible for there to be a different VP than the running mate of the president? – Burt Dec 17 '20 at 22:16
  • @Burt Yes. The EC could choose whomever, as could the contingent election (who has to choose from the top 3 EV-getters). – Azor Ahai -him- Dec 17 '20 at 22:17
  • Like if Harris had died in November, the electors could select whoever Biden asks them to pick. – Azor Ahai -him- Dec 17 '20 at 22:18
  • @AzorAhai-him- i'm assuming this never happened – Burt Dec 17 '20 at 22:18
  • @Burt Dunno, you'd have to look it up. Unless you meant Harris, she's still alive. – Azor Ahai -him- Dec 17 '20 at 22:20
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    @Acccumulation Yes, Biden won 25 states + DC. Because DC has no rep in this case, at least one Biden state would have to defect to give Trump the win. Candidates would be WI and PA, who have majority-R delegations, and MI and GA, which are tied. – Azor Ahai -him- Dec 17 '20 at 23:43
  • I guess that means one of the Trump states would also have to "defect" to give Biden the win. Although I imagine they would chose not to vote and let Biden win 25-24 or something. – Azor Ahai -him- Dec 17 '20 at 23:52
  • That's not in the question, but what is the success likeness of such a scenario? – Déjà vu Dec 18 '20 at 15:47
  • @e2-e4 There is no change the House agrees to toss any votes, not in the least because there is absolutely no reason to. The Senate will be at most 52-48 GOP, and Murkowski, Collins, and a few others have said they will not object. McConnell told the GOP not to object. So none at all. – Azor Ahai -him- Dec 18 '20 at 17:07