~ By Nate Davis, Saul Galvan, Ryan Kelly, Jennifer Mercado Morales<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n A global pandemic, over 60 lawsuits, and President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede<\/a> made for a truly one-of-a-kind presidential election in 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2020, Joe Biden won important states such as Georgia and Pennsylvania, giving him enough electoral votes to win. The margin of victory in some of those key states was razor-thin. Post-election, The Washington Post<\/a> reported that flipping fewer than 80,000 votes in just four states would have changed the outcome of the race. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Pennsylvania, a winner was not declared until the Saturday after the election<\/a>. The delay was caused by a Pennsylvania law which prohibits opening mail-in ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day. Because of COVID-19, Pennsylvania received an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots, which slowed the vote counting in the state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the interim, then-President Trump, who was leading on election night, made several requests, public and private, to \u201cstop the count.\u201d<\/a> This was one of the first episodes in the ongoing saga of the right-wing conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was rigged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In January 2021, Trump personally pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to \u201cfind\u201d Trump enough votes<\/a> to win the state, a phone call captured on tape<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n President Trump\u2019s false accusations of voter fraud in swing states like Pennsylvania and Georgia had far-reaching influence. These claims were one of the primary factors that led to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lies about voter fraud have become pervasive in the modern political climate. Earl Gosnell, a 77-year-old Eugene local, was very passionate about the alleged fraud that took place in the 2020 election. \u201cIt has been established that the election was stolen,\u201d said Gosnell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n More than 60 lawsuits were filed by Trump and his associates. <\/span>No evidence of widespread<\/a> voter fraud has been found. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This May, Pennsylvania\u2019s Democratic-led House of Representatives passed a bill to amend the 7 a.m. law. The Republican-controlled state senate refused to put it to a vote<\/a>, leaving the law unchanged. Another delay in counting this year could lead to more uncertainty, potentially giving Trump another opportunity to cast doubt on the results should Harris prove victorious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While Republicans were keeping the rules the same in Pennsylvania, the Republican-controlled Georgia state election board voted to require that all ballots be hand-counted<\/a> by county officials on Election Day in Georgia. Some election experts oppose the hand-counting<\/a> of ballots, which they say is less accurate and more time-consuming than mechanical alternatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Georgia\u2019s election board has allied itself with President Trump. The former president has described three officials as \u201cpit bulls\u201d fighting for \u201cvictory.”<\/a> As in Pennsylvania, a delay in the count could be advantageous for Trump, who may hope to use a similar playbook to 2020 by trying to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the ruling, particularly with a sympathetic election board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n