President Donald Trump’s effort to snatch a second term through a series of state and federal court challenges has been flaming out for weeks. Now, the calendar has all but extinguished it. Dec. 8 is the so-called “safe harbor” date for the presidential election, a milestone established in federal law for states to conclude any disputes over the results. Trump’s failure to gain traction in litigation, with his lawyers and allies failing to block crucial states from declaring Joe Biden the winner, means the safe harbor deadline stands as another potentially insurmountable reason for the courts to decline to intervene. Trump’s legal team publicly says the safe harbor deadline is meaningless and they’ll simply disregard it. Set by a 140-year-old statute, the date isn’t enshrined in the Constitution, they say. But the campaign’s legal filings tell another story, as Trump’s lawyers pressed courts for urgent action ahead of the deadline midnight on Tuesday and warned of irreparable consequences if they don’t. The last time a presidential election was resolved at the Supreme Court, the safe harbor deadline proved pivotal. And several legal actions seem to be hurtling toward a potential resolution on Tuesday — including a Pennsylvania dispute where Justice Samuel Alito initially asked for responses by Wednesday but decided to expedite further to Tuesday amid speculation about the safe harbor deadline.
National: ‘Safe Harbor’ Day Marks a Further Step Toward Sealing Joe Biden’s Victory in Electoral College | Alexa Corse/Wall Street Journal
A federal deadline Tuesday marks the latest formal step toward confirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, further reducing options for President Trump and his supporters to fight the results. States were supposed to try to resolve any disputes over the presidential results and finalize their slate of electors for the Electoral College by Tuesday. It is known as the “Safe Harbor” deadline because, if met, Congress should accept a state’s results as conclusive and reject any further challenges, according to federal law. The deadline usually passes with little notice. This year, the Trump campaign and its allies have so far unsuccessfully launched a battery of lawsuits and sought to persuade some state legislatures to overturn the election results, drawing extra attention to the arcane formalities that states and Congress take to confirm the next president in time for the inauguration on Jan. 20. The “Safe Harbor” deadline doesn’t necessarily end those or other lawsuits. But given that Congress is supposed to respect the results of states that meet the deadline, and with the Electoral College vote coming Monday, it narrows the options for challenging the outcome, according to election law scholars. “I don’t think it’s the kind of the deadline that’s going to bring true finality,” said Richard L. Hasen, an election-law professor at the University of California, Irvine. “It’s more like another nail in the coffin.”
Full Article: ‘Safe Harbor’ Day Marks a Further Step Toward Sealing Joe Biden’s Victory in Electoral College – WSJ