WASHINGTON — Experts say it’s typical for there to be disagreements between the supporters of the winning and losing candidates when it comes to the accuracy of presidential vote counts. However, this year they say the divisions are on a different level. 

 


What You Need To Know

  • Hand recount certifies Biden's win in Georgia

  • Study found 3 out of 4 Republicans doubt fairness of 2020 Election

  • Michigan and Pennsylvania will certify totals on Monday

 

A hand recount reaffirms President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia, but President Trump is still refusing to accept the outcome of the election. Courts continue to dismiss his claims of voter fraud - but on Friday, he invited Michigan lawmakers to the White House in a bid to reverse the results in a key state Biden is projected to have won. 

“We have never seen, in an election that was this clear and this secure, the losing candidate being unwilling to accept reality,” said Adam Ambrogi the Director of the Elections and Voting Program at the Democracy Fund, a nonpartisan group that advocates for free and fair elections. 

President Donald Trump is still not ready to concede.

“I won, by the way, you’ll find that out. We got 74 million votes,” Trump said during a press conference on Friday. 

Trump, is still rallying his supporters to back his so-far unfounded claims of voter fraud. A new Monmouth University Poll found this tactic is working.

The poll found about three out of four Republicans doubt the fairness of the 2020 election. It’s a statistic that Ambrogi founds troubling. 

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany echoed the president’s claims during a press conference on Friday.

"There are real questions on mass mail-out voting. We have put those questions forward,” she said.

So far these claims have not been affirmed by the courts.

“It has to be incredibly dangerous because if we can’t rely on the facts of evidence of these paper ballots, of bipartisan teams of election officials that are counting the vote, working to certify the vote, then why have elections?” Ambrogi questioned in a Zoom interview with Spectrum News.

Lawmakers say these deep political divisions could have a long-term impact. 

This week, President Trump fired the head of U.S. Cybersecurity, Christopher Krebs, who had publicly refuted his claims of election fraud.

Krebs set up a rumor control website to guard against disinformation.

“There’s a loyalty purge going on in the last month in the White House,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R) Illinois. 

Senator Marco Rubio told reporters he didn’t see anything wrong with Krebs’ dismissal. 

“I don’t have any problem with the job Krebs did, but all these people work for the president,” Rubio said. 

"There’s nothing illegal or improper in that sense. My opinion and my interactions with Krebs have been positive. I don’t have any criticism of his work but maybe the President knows something I don’t,” he added.

With some much conflicting information, Ambrogi recommends looking to state and local election officials to decide what’s true. 

"They are responsible for both collecting information for the votes that are captured in both their county or jurisdiction or state and sharing them and there’s not political decision making going on.” Ambrogi said.

The certification of the vote totals in each state is the next major step in formalizing Joe Biden’s victory.

Georgia just certified their results Friday. Michigan and Pennsylvania will certify their totals on Monday.