ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A common quote among many Republican supporters and political leaders is that "elections are called by election officials, not news outlets." And with the pending legal battles President Donald Trump and others are starting over the election results, we've been asked if it's considered against the law to identify Joe Biden as the President-elect at this time.
KMOX News was asked that question by a listener since, President Trump has not conceded and because the election results have not been certified. We put the question to Professor of Law Emeritus at St. Louis University School of Law, Joel K. Goldstein.
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Here's part of his response:
"No facts to question (Joe Biden and Kamala Harris) election have been presented. In every other instance during recent history, under these circumstances the people in their position have been referred to as president-elect and vice-president-elect and President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris should be accorded the same treatment in this historic election."
Goldstein notes that Fox News and every "every legitimate news outlet of which I am aware" have called the election for Biden.
"They currently lead the popular vote by 4.4 million votes – a margin likely to climb as vote tabulation in some large states that voted for Biden-Harris are completed," Goldstein says. "The electors will vote on December 14, 2020 and the electoral votes will be counted on January 6, 2021 and at that point the election of President Biden and Vice President Harris will be official."
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So, it appears calling Bide and Harris the President-elect and Vice President-elect is not illegal.
Goldstein also noted that it's an "impressive" victory for them, as they've earned a higher percentage of the popular vote than "Wilson (1912 and 1916), Truman, JFK, Nixon (1968), Carter, Reagan (1980)Clinton (1992, 1996), Bush (2000, 2004), and of course much higher than Trump (2016)."
Here is the full response from Goldstein:
Fox News has called 290 electoral votes for Vice President Biden and Senator Harris and every legitimate news outlet of which I am aware has called the election for Biden-Harris based on the popular vote counts in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. They currently lead the popular vote by 4.4 million votes (a margin likely to climb as vote tabulation in some large states that voted for Biden-Harris are completed) and appear likely to receive 306 electoral votes, more than President Trump and Vice President Pence received four years ago. No facts to question their election have been presented. In every other instance during recent history, under these circumstances the people in their position have been referred to as president-elect and vice-president-elect and President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris should be accorded the same treatment in this historic election. The electors will vote on December 14, 2020 and the electoral votes will be counted on January 6, 2021 and at that point the election of President Biden and Vice President Harris will be official.
The Biden-Harris popular vote is impressive. It will probably be higher than the popular vote percentages of Wilson (1912 and 1916), Truman, JFK, Nixon (1968), Carter, Reagan (1980)Clinton (1992, 1996), Bush (2000, 2004), and of course much higher than Trump (2016) and perhaps comparable to Obama (2012). It seems more likely than not that Biden will receive 306 electoral votes which would be more than Truman, JFK, Nixon (1968), Carter (1976) , Bush (2000, 2004) or Trump (2016). His popular vote margin over his opponent will exceed JFK's over Nixon, Nixon's over Humphrey, Carter's over Ford, Gore's over Bush, Bush's over Kerry, Clinton's over Trump and may be comparable to Obama's over Romney.
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