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00:00The U.S. presidential contest between the Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald
00:09Trump features an array of legal battles over how the votes are cast and counted that are
00:14likely to last beyond Election Day on November 5th. Such disputes concern 97 out of the 270
00:20electoral college votes the candidates need to win. Qualifications or disqualifications
00:25will leave Georgia voters with the choice of four presidential candidates, Harris for
00:29the Democrats, Trump for the Republicans, Libertarian Chase Oliver and the Green Party's
00:34Jill Stein. Now let's take a look at how this is reflected in other places.
00:42Here in Arizona, laws enabling counties to invalidate registrations of voters who have
00:46moved out of state are in place under a federal appeals ruling. Voting rights groups argue
00:51that the legislation unfairly targets voter registration efforts. Last month, the U.S.
00:56Supreme Court approved a Republican request to partially revive an Arizona law requiring
01:01proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration. Over in Georgia, the Republican-leaning electoral
01:08board has given the green light to a controversial rule requiring ballots to be counted by hand.
01:13The move has prompted criticism from both Democratic and Republican officials.
01:18There are several things that concern me about this. Number one, I do think it's too
01:20close to the election. I do. I think that it's too late to train a lot of poll workers
01:26that have already started their training processes and to go back and have to retrain them on
01:30something like this. I think there's a lack of resources in many counties to effectuate
01:35this rule. The board has also adopted rules giving county
01:39officials more power to question vote results. This could potentially allow Trump allies
01:44to prevent certification if he loses. Further north in Michigan, the Republican
01:49National Committee has filed a string of lawsuits questioning the way absentee ballots are counted
01:54in the state. The RNC has also sued in Nevada, along with the Trump campaign, to force officials
02:00to check that registered voters are American citizens.
02:05Earlier this month, a court in North Carolina denied a request from the RNC that sought
02:09to block the state from accepting digital ID cards issued by the University of North
02:13Carolina at polling places. The committee is appealing the decision, a move which, if
02:19successful, could make it harder for students to vote.
02:23In Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court decided that mail ballots cannot be accepted if they
02:28do not bear the correct date on their outer envelope, a move that voting rights groups
02:32insist will nullify thousands of legitimate ballots.
02:35Meanwhile, the Supreme Court in Wisconsin is looking into a case that would ban mobile
02:39voting sites. Some Republicans argue that their repeated use could increase the risk
02:44of voter fraud.
03:05Bear with me a bit here, Mark, because we're going to get a bit into the weeds, but I promise
03:11you it is important. Nebraska, in 1991, changed the way that it awards its electoral college
03:17votes. It has five of them, and it's changed it from being a winner-takes-all state to
03:22a kind of more proportional state.
03:24We're going to throw a map up for you now, and you'll see that Nebraska has three main
03:29zones. So two of the state's five electoral college votes go to the winner. That's the
03:34outright. But then there are three others, the three colors that you can see on your
03:38map there, the green, which is the third congressional district, the red, which is the first congressional
03:45district. Those two tend to both go Republican.
03:48But what we're going to look at is the bluey green on your map, which is the second congressional
03:54district. That was won by Donald Trump in 2016, but it was won by Joe Biden in 2020
04:01and has been won by Democrats before, like Barack Obama. Now, Joe Biden won that congressional
04:06district by 6.5 percent, and it's averaging about that for Kamala Harris at the moment.
04:11So why is that important? Well, let me give you a hypothetical. Imagine that Kamala Harris
04:15does what Joe Biden was hoping to do and wins the Northern Blue Wall, so Michigan, Wisconsin
04:21and Pennsylvania, but then say Donald Trump wins all the Sunbelt states, the swing states
04:26on the bottom of the country that are still up for grabs as well, including Arizona, Nevada,
04:32Georgia and North Carolina. Well, in that case, Kamala Harris would win the election
04:36with 270 electoral votes. That is because one of those votes comes from that second
04:42congressional district, which is over in Nebraska.
04:45Now, the Republicans are trying to change the electoral map in in Nebraska so that it
04:51becomes a winner takes all state like every other nation, every other state in the nation,
04:55aside from from Maine. If that happens and the electoral map looked like I just laid
05:00out, then we would be at a situation where it was 268 votes to 268 electoral college
05:06votes. Remember, you need 270 to win. So therefore, we're in an electoral tie. What happens in
05:11that situation? It then goes to Congress. It goes down to the House to decide who is
05:16going to be the president. They all vote. Donald Trump has the has the advantage in
05:21the House because there are more Republicans in the House, which would mean that Donald
05:24Trump would win the election. So it has become a bit of a battleground, albeit not a traditional
05:29battleground state. But there has been movement on this over the last 20 or so years, and
05:36the Republicans are still trying to get this changed. And that is an effort that has been
05:41reignited now thanks to Donald Trump. If you want a bit of an idea of how seriously the
05:45Democrats are taking this Kamala Harris's ad campaign, as well as Joe Biden before her
05:51and the House race that's going on in the second congressional district. So far, they've
05:55spent a total of $15 million just in that one congressional district, which is mainly
06:01in the city of Omaha, Nebraska, a population of fewer than 500,000 people. $15 million
06:07spent there compared to the Republicans spending just $200,000. So an important toss up that
06:14could come down to prove quite pivotal on Election Day.
06:20And what is the likelihood then, Fraser, of Nebraska changing the way that it gives
06:24out Electoral College votes?
06:25Well, really, there's just one man standing in the way of Nebraska changing that. His
06:31name is Mike McDonnell. He is a state senator for Nebraska. He was previously a Democrat,
06:38but switched to the Republican side of the aisle after he was censured by the Democrats
06:42in Nebraska for a vote which effectively led to abortion rights being restricted in the
06:49state. Since then, he has now moved to the Republican side, and it was him, his one single
06:54vote, which blocked this from being able to go through the state legislature there in
06:59Nebraska. The reason for that, he says, he said, didn't seem fair was the main one, really.
07:04That's why he kiboshed it. But the main one, he says, is that it really gives Omaha some
07:08national importance, which it certainly does. A lot of headlines are now swirling around
07:12this, especially since his single vote blocked this from becoming a reality. He also says
07:16it brings money into the city. Remember that $15 million that I've just mentioned? And
07:21he also says that it makes the politicians work for the votes of people in Nebraska.
07:26Well, the Republicans are not happy about the fact that this Republican, one of their
07:31own, blocked this from happening. Donald Trump took to Truth Social, saying, unfortunately,
07:36a Democrat turned Republican state senator named Mike McDonnell decided for no reason
07:41whatsoever to get in the way of a great Republican common sense victory. Just another grandstander.
07:48So not happy, Donald Trump is. But arguably, the Democrats will be on the upside of that
07:52argument and elated that things are remaining the way they are, as the status quo continues.
07:57Fraser Jackson, keep up the good work. Great to see you, sir. Fraser Jackson there near
08:01the White House, as ever, keeping his finger on the pulse of US politics for us. And we
08:06will bring you all developments on the campaign as we get them in this special Zoom-in every
08:10day.
08:11Stay with us.