It came amid mounting criticism that Trump’s futile efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 election could do long-lasting damage to democratic traditions. Experts on Michigan election law said the Board of State Canvassers' authority was limited in scope. Gretchen Whitmer could seek a court order forcing board members to certify the election and could remove those who refused, said Steve Liedel, another election attorney. In two Democratic-leaning counties in Wisconsin that are recounting votes, Trump’s campaign sought to discard tens of thousands of absentee ballots that it alleged should not have been counted. "It’s an open attempt to intimidate election officials, it’s absolutely appalling.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and his allies are taking increasingly frantic steps to subvert the results of the 2020 election, including summoning state legislators to the White House as part of a longshot bid to overturn Joe Biden’s victory. But there has been no evidence of impropriety or fraud in Michigan, election officials have said. But election officials across the country have said repeatedly there was no widespread fraud. In Arizona, the Republican Party is pressuring county officials to delay certifying results. In northwestern Arizona, Mohave County officials postponed their certification until next week.

Any time the justices divide 4-4 in a case, the lower court ruling remains in place. If say, the court were to split that way in a case involving the election, the tie would ratify whatever the lower court decided. In 2016, “the court actually did a pretty good job when the court had eight justices for a while. Any case that divides the court 4-4 after arguments could be held and set for a new round of arguments when the court is back at full strength. The Supreme Court has managed at less than its full nine-member strength at three points in the past 50 years, in 1970, 1987-88 and 2016.