Duval County

Election lawyer predicts Nov. 3 election to be resolved in Supreme Court

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Presidential Election is 35 days away, but early voting has already begun in some states.

Vote-by-mail ballots started going out to registered voters in Duval and St. Johns counties last week.

Action News Jax Courtney Cole spoke to Tom Spencer, an attorney on the Florida Recount in 2000, involving then-presidential candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore.

Spencer said because there are already many election-related lawsuits making their way to court around the country, he is very confident we could have a repeat of 2000.

“There’s lawsuits in Nevada, there’s lawsuits in North Carolina, Pennsylvania. There was a lawsuit in Virginia,” Spencer told Cole.

Those lawsuits range from issues involving who mail-in ballots are being mailed to, ballots without postmarks and even the right for people with felony convictions to vote, here in Florida.

“It’s almost assured that the election will end up in the courts,” Spencer told Cole.

Spencer said this is one reason why there’s a race against the clock to get Judge Amy Coney Barrett confirmed.

“This one is really going to determine the future of America,” one Flagler College student told Cole.

Over the past few weeks, President Donald Trump has cast doubt on the legitimacy of the vote-by-mail process.

“How did our troops vote during the second world war? They voted by mail. How did Donald Trump vote? By mail. How did Ivanka Trump vote? By mail,” Peter Reftery questioned why this method of voting isn’t good enough for him, too.

Trump has even expressed his disagreement about accepting an election outcome that does not result in his favor.

“Bush versus Gore was 537 votes. There was an election in Minnesota for the Senate, which was 235 votes. That means everybody’s vote counts!” exclaimed Spencer.

The election lawyer says changes to election rules and litigation could end up being the perfect storm.

Spencer told Cole that under our U.S. Constitution, all of these lawsuits and disputes must be settled and disposed of by Dec. 8.

Then, by Dec. 13, the Electoral College must meet and send their electoral votes to the House of Representatives. It must be received by Jan. 3, and then the President of the Senate, who is the person serving as the Vice President of the United States, must open up the ballots by the electoral college.

“But you know when you step back, and you look at it, it’s sort of refreshing to understand that we’ve got all of these mechanics to record our ballots and to record our voice. And that each of us have a very important part to play in connection with this,” Spencer said.