However, their greatest weapon in this fight for public perception and legal status will not initially appear in a courtroom. Instead, it will be released to the media immediately after Election Day, the result of far-sighted 2020 efforts by Republicans in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Anticipating precisely this scenario, Republicans in these three states – when they controlled them in 2020 – passed sweeping election laws preventing the counting of mail-in ballots until Election Day, ensuring that poll workers would be overwhelmed and that the results would be delayed.

Democrats took control of Michigan and in 2023 modified the law so that ballots could be processed before Election Day, thereby thwarting their plans. But Democrats didn’t and won’t take back the Wisconsin and Pennsylvania legislatures, so Republican Party laws stand: Mail-in ballots can’t be counted until after Election Day in these states.