Background Information

On Saturday, November 7, 2020 all the major news networks called the presidential race for Joe Biden.

A check of the current vote totals (November 8, 2020 at 1:00 am MST) shows Biden with 290 electoral votes and Trump with 214, with Biden leading in all battleground states except North Carolina:

On November 7, 2020, Trump released a statement about the election. The statement was posted on Tim Murtaugh's Twitter account. Murtaugh is Trump's director of communications.

Here's the full text of the statement:

We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed. The simple fact is this election is far from over. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor. In Pennsylvania, for example, our legal observers were not permitted meaningful access to watch the counting process. Legal votes decide who is president, not the news media.

Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated. The American People are entitled to an honest election: that means counting all legal ballots, and not counting any illegal ballots. This is the only way to ensure the public has full confidence in our election. It remains shocking that the Biden campaign refuses to agree with this basic principle and wants ballots counted even if they are fraudulent, manufactured, or cast by ineligible or deceased voters. Only a party engaged in wrongdoing would unlawfully keep observers out of the count room – and then fight in court to block their access.

So what is Biden hiding? I will not rest until the American People have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands.

Source:

(November 7, 2020). "Text of statement from U.S. President Donald Trump". CTV News/Associated Press. Retrieved 2020-11-07.

Murtaugh, Tim. (November 7, 2020). "Tim Murtaugh | Tweet". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-11-07.

It's clear from this statement that Trump intends to fight the election results reported by the major news networks.

It's clear that he will continue to file lawsuits based on his perception and claim of "illegal" ballots.

And, if you reread what Trump said in the third sentence, he references the fact that Biden has not yet been certified as the winner (more on this later).

As far as recounts go, rules vary by state, but based on how close the election is in several battleground states, some recounts will be done. It's rare for recounts to change the results by more than a few hundred votes, so based on the current totals (subject to change since the counting isn't 100% complete), it's highly unlikely recounts will swing any results.

Having said all of that, here are the three "lifelines" that exist for Trump:

• Lawsuits in local and federal courts, and potentially the U.S. Supreme Court
• Faithless electors which pledge for Trump instead of Biden
• The U.S. House of Representatives

Lawsuits in local and federal courts, and potentially the U.S. Supreme Court

So far, Trump has filed lawsuits in the states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Although some of these suits have already been dismissed, Trump's lawyers will surely appeal when feasible, and file new lawsuits.

Here Are the All the Lawsuits the Trump Campaign Has Filed Since Election Day—And Why Most Are Unlikely to Go Anywhere | Time

Trump campaign files new election-related lawsuit in Arizona | The Hill

Republican lawsuit over Sharpie-marked ballots in Arizona to be dropped | The Hill

Trump campaign announces federal lawsuit in Nevada, alleging 'illegal votes' being counted | Fox News

With counting winding down, Trump lawsuits dismissed in Georgia and Michigan | The Denver Posts

Trump sues in 3 states, laying ground for contesting outcome | Associated Press

On November 5, 2020, the Nevada Republican Party released the following statement via Twitter:

Our lawyers just sent a criminal referral to AG Barr regarding at least 3,062 instances of voter fraud. We expect that number to grow substantially. Thousands of individuals have been identified who appear to have violated the law by casting ballots after they moved from NV.

Source:

Castronuovo, Celine. (November 5, 2020). "Nevada Republican Party sends criminal referral to DOJ alleging thousands of cases of voter fraud". The Hill. Retrieved 2020-11-08.

At a press conference on November 7, 2020, Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said that Trump is not going to concede when there are at least 600,000 ballots in question.

If the Trump campaign can prove the existence of a significant number of "illegal" ballots in Nevada (see Fox News link above), then it might get some "traction" in the court system. The current vote count in Nevada has Biden up by 27,530 with 90% of the expected vote tallied. The final vote count will determine how many "illegal" ballots would constitute significant.

Of course, if Trump loses lawsuits in lower courts, he will undoubtedly appeal all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court where the 6-3 conservative split might work to his advantage.

Faithless electors which pledge for Trump instead of Biden

If the U.S. president was decided by the popular vote, then the concept of "faithless electors" wouldn't apply. But, in the United States the winner of the presidential election is decided by the electoral college using electoral votes.

In a nutshell, here's how the electoral college works:

• Each each state gets a certain number of electoral votes based on its number of U.S. House of Representatives members (congressional districts), plus two additional votes for its two senators. For example, Arizona has nine congressional districts, so it is allocated 11 electoral votes. The total number of possible electoral votes is 538 (435 members in the U.S. House of Representatives + 100 for members in the U.S Senate + 3 for the District of Columbia).
• During an election, the candidate who receives the most popular votes in a state receives all of that states electoral votes (except for the states of Maine and Nebraska which split the votes between the candidates).
• As popular votes are counted during an election, electoral vote counts are monitored and announced by the news media based on projected popular vote counts.
• To win a presidential election a candidate must win a majority of electoral votes. That number is 270 (538 divided by 2, + 1).
• In early December (for 2020, December 8) all state legislatures meet to designate electors that will represent the state in the electoral college. How electors are designated varies by state.
• Shortly thereafter (for 2020, December 14), the electors meet in their respective state capitals and cast their official votes. In past U.S. presidential elections, electors overwhelming voted based on who won the popular vote in that state, but exceptions (faithless electors) have occurred. To complicate matters, different states have different laws regarding faithless electors.
• In the first week of January (for 2021, January 6), the U.S. Congress (joint session, presided over by the vice president) counts the electoral votes submitted by the states. The candidate with the most number of electoral votes is officially declared the winner of the election.

The part of this process that could potentially help Trump is in the designation of state electors, and on whether those electors vote faithless or not.

In a July 2, 2020 article written by Daniel Baer (senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) entitled "How Trump could refuse to go", Baer describes a scenario where some Republican-controlled state legislatures vote to change the way in which electors are designated (just prior to December 8), allowing them to vote as faithless if they so desire - something which the U.S Constitution allows.

If this were to happen in enough state legislatures, it's possible that it could flip the election for Trump. Whether or not enough states would do something like this might depend on how much real "corruption" and how many truly "illegal" votes Trump and his campaign can discover.

According to Ballotpedia, Republicans have a pre-election majority in both the state Senate and the state House in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin (Nevada has Democratic control of both chambers). None of this changed as a result of the 2020 election. The total number of electors (electoral votes) for those six battleground states is 88. Biden's current electoral vote lead is 76, which means that if most of the electors in those six states are "faithless" and vote for Trump, Trump would win (assuming all other states vote 100% per the popular vote).

One more thing to be aware of is that on July 2, 2020 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states can prohibit their designated electors from voting contrary to the popular vote, giving them the right to outlaw "faithless electors." The key word here is "can." The ruling does not require that states must do this, instead it just gives them the legal right to do so if they so choose.

Source:

"United State Electoral College". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2020-11-08.

"Electoral College". BallotPedia. Retrieved 2020-11-08.

"Which States Split Their Electoral Votes?". Taegan Goddard's Electoral Vote Map. Retrieved 2020-11-09.

Baer, Daniel. (July 2, 2020). "United State Electoral College". UnHerd. Retrieved 2020-11-08.

Wheeler,Russell. (October 21, 2020). "Can the Electoral College be subverted by 'faithless electors'?". Brookings. Retrieved 2020-11-08.

The U.S. House of Representatives

One remaining question is, what happens with a "faithless elector" scenario if on January 6, 2021 when the votes are counted there's a tie?

According to the U.S. Constitution, in the case of an electoral vote tie, a contingent election takes place in the U.S. House of Representatives. In this contingent election votes are not determined by the number of members in the House, they are determined by the number of "state delegations", and each delegation receives one vote.

A "state delegation" is defined as either Democrat of Republican based on which party has more U.S. House of Representatives members for that state. For example, in Arizona there are nine House reps consisting of five Democrats and four Republicans, so in Arizona that would count for one Democrat "state delegation" (one vote in the election). At present, 26 state delegations are Republican, 23 are Democrat, and Pennsylvania is a tie.

In other words, even though Democrats will most likely retain a majority in the House, that majority wouldn't help them if this scenario plays out, and if at least 24 of the 26 Republican state delegations voted for Trump, then Trump would win.

Source:

"United State Electoral College". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2020-11-08.

"Electoral College". BallotPedia. Retrieved 2020-11-08.

Conclusion

Although the "faithless elector" scenario might seem far-fetched, when you consider the deep and bitter political divide we've experienced in America for the past four years - a divide that exists at all levels of government and among the general public - I think it's certainly within the realm of possibility that this might occur.

Remember, this is Trump we're dealing with. With Trump just about anything is possible. He won the 2016 election when most counted him out. He survived an impeachment when plenty of compelling evidence was presented against him. He has defied every social and political "norm" and he's still standing.

In his November 7, 2020 statement Trump said "The simple fact is this election is far from over." I disagree with most things Trump says, but this time I have to agree. Trump is going to fight with every last fiber of his being to make his case to the American public and to the world. And if you think about it, as unpleasant as this situation is, in the end we all want to know that the results of this election are in fact fair and true.

For more insights into this, I suggest you read the articles in the More section below, in particular the one entitled "Can President Trump win his election challenges in court?" (an op-ed written by the prominent lawyer Alan Dershowitz).

More:

• Could State Legislatures Pick Electors to Vote for Trump? Not Likely | The New York Times
• Trump is putting this country through something unprecedented. Here are three scenarios. | The Washington Post
• The states — not the media — determine election outcomes | The Hill
• The Law is Clear: If An Election is Stolen, State Legislatures Can Restore The Will of The People | Revolver
• Trump Needs Three Consecutive Hail Mary Passes | The Atlantic
• Can President Trump win his election challenges in court? | The Hill
• Scoop: Inside Trump's legal warfare | Axios
• Explainer: Another possible risk in U.S. election - 'faithless electors' | Reuters
• Why the presidential election result could take days or weeks — and become chaotic | PBS
• Supreme Court's 'faithless electors' decision validates case for the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact | Brookings
• The Deadline That Could Hand Trump the Election | The Atlantic

U P D A T E S

Dec 16, 2020:

On December 8, 2020 Texas announced the state would be filing a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court. The lawsuit argues that electors from Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin should not be allowed to cast their votes, partly because these states violated the U.S. Constitution by the way in which they changed voting procedures regarding mail-in ballots.

The lawsuit's 154-page complaint was written by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (Republican).

Source:

Neidig, Harper. (December 8, 2020). "Texas sues states Biden won in Supreme Court, seeking to delay Electoral College vote". The Hill. Retrieved 2020-12-15.

On December 10, 2020, over 100 Republican U.S. House of Representatives members signed an amicus brief in support of the Texas lawsuit filed two days ago.

On December 11, 2020, an additional 20 Republican U.S. House of Representatives members endorsed the Texas lawsuit, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Republican-California).

On December 11, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Texas lawsuit, saying Texas does not have the legal right (standing) to litigate over how other states conduct their elections.

View Brian Tyler Cohen's commentary on Trump's lawyers response to the Supreme Court ruling on YouTube here.

On December 14, 2020, the Electoral College voted, confirming Biden's 306-232 win over Trump.

View Brian Tyler Cohen's commentary on Biden's official Electoral College win on YouTube here.

View Seth Meyer's commentary on Biden's official Electoral College win on YouTube here.

On December 15, 2020, The Hill published an article describing "one more nightmare scenario" that congressional Republicans could unleash on January 6 when electoral votes are counted in Congress.

View Brian Tyler Cohen's commentary on an argument between Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (Republican) and Michigan Senator Gary Peters (Democrat) on YouTube here.

Dec 2, 2020:

On November 30 2020, a hearing was held in Arizona. The hearing included Trump's legal team led by Rudy Giuliani, and Arizona state lawmakers including U.S. House Representative Paul Gosar (Republican, Arizona). Also in attendance was retired Army Colonel Phil Waldron (presented as a cyber security expert). Waldron was also present at the November 25, 2020 hearing in Pennsylvania.

Trump called in to the meeting. Here are a few excerpts of what he said:

On top of it, you have a governor named Ducey. He just rushed to sign certificates [verifying the results of the 2020 election in Arizona] … what's that all about? He didn't have to sign it. I say, why would he sign when you have these incredible hearings going on that's showing such corruption and such horrible fraud?

You have to figure out what that's all about with Ducey. He couldn't go fast enough. We're not going to forget what Ducey just did.

This shows how arrogant the Democrats and others were in taking away and stealing an election...This is the greatest scam ever perpetrated on our country.

Source:

Fordham, Evie. (November 30, 2020). "Trump lawyers allege Arizona election fraud conspiracy in GOP 'hearing'". Fox News. Retrieved 2020-12-01.

Spiering, Charlie. (November 30, 2020). "Donald Trump Calls In to Arizona Voter Fraud Hearing: We're Fighting Back". Breitbart. Retrieved 2020-11-26.

On December 1, 2020 the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin alleging that election processes were abused regarding approximately 220,000 absentee ballots.

Trump campaign files Wisconsin lawsuit, claiming 'abuse' of absentee voting affected 220K ballots | Fox News

Nov 26, 2020:

Sidney Powell filed lawsuits in Georgia and Michigan alleging election fraud.

Ex-Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell files lawsuits in Michigan, Georgia | The Hill

Sidney Powell files lawsuits in Georgia and Michigan alleging mass voter fraud | Washington Examiner

Yesterday, a hearing was held at the Wyndham Hotel in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The hearing was hosted by the Pennsylvania Senate Majority Committee, led by State Senator Doug Mastriano (Republican).

Several election observers described their concerns about things they saw as ballots were being processed and counted. Others spoke via teleconference about the "illegal" curing of ballots.

Rudy Giuliani introduced an election security specialist who described a spike in ballots for Biden in Pennsylvania on election night as being a "prime indicator of fraudulent voting."

Trump called in to the hearing saying:

We have to turn the election over, because there's no doubt. We have all the evidence, we have all the affidavits, we have everything. All we need is to have some judge listen to it properly without having a political opinion or having another kind of a problem.

Mastriano concluded the hearing saying:

As Jesus said, 'You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free,' and guess what, the truth's out there.

Source:

Spiering, Charlie. (November 25, 2020). "Highlights of Pennsylvania Republicans' Hearing on Election Irregularities". Breitbart. Retrieved 2020-11-26.

Nov 24, 2020:

The Trump campaign released the following press release:

MAYOR GIULIANI: "IT'S IN EVERYONE'S INTEREST TO HAVE A FULL VETTING OF ELECTION IRREGULARITIES AND FRAUD"

The Donald J. Trump for President Campaign Legal Team today announced that the State Legislatures in Pennsylvania, Arizona and Michigan will hold public hearings on the election beginning tomorrow and next week in an effort to provide confidence that all of the legal votes have been counted and the illegal votes have not been counted in the November 3rd election.

The first hearing, held by the Pennsylvania State Senate, will be conducted tomorrow, Wednesday, November 25th, in Gettysburg, PA, where each participating Senator will give a five-minute opening statement followed by testimony from witnesses who have filed affidavits attesting to 2020 election fraud. Tomorrow's hearing will also feature a presentation from former New York City Mayor and Personal Attorney to President Trump, Rudy Giuliani.

On Monday, November 30th, the Arizona legislature will hold their own hearing, followed by the Michigan legislature holding their own hearing on Tuesday, December 1st. Details for both hearings to follow.

"It's in everyone's interest to have a full vetting of election irregularities and fraud," said Mayor Giuliani. "And the only way to do this is with public hearings, complete with witnesses, videos, pictures and other evidence of illegalities from the November 3rd election."

"We are pleased that the State Legislatures in Pennsylvania, Arizona and Michigan will be convening hearings to examine the November 3rd presidential election," added Trump campaign Senior Legal Advisor and Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump, Jenna Ellis. "There were serious irregularities, we have proof of fraud in a number of states, and it is important for all Americans to have faith in our electoral process. All we have wanted from the outset is to count every legal vote and discount every illegal vote."

State Legislatures are uniquely qualified and positioned to hold hearings on election irregularities and fraud before electors are chosen. As established in Article 2, Section 1.2 of the United States Constitution, State Legislatures have the sole authority to select their representatives to the Electoral College, providing a critical safeguard against voter fraud and election manipulation.

Source:

(November 24, 2020). "PENNSYLVANIA, ARIZONA, MICHIGAN LEGISLATURES TO HOLD PUBLIC HEARINGS ON 2020 ELECTION". Trump Campaign. Retrieved 2020-11-24.

This appears to be the Trump campaign's big "push" to try and convince state legislatures to "go rogue" and designate "faithless electors", or at least to generate enough doubt and suspicion that state officials conduct more election investigations before finalizing electors.

Nov 23, 2020:

On November 15, 2020, speaking with host Maria Bartiromo on "Fox News Futures", Trump lawyer Sidney Powell said the following:

...because we're fixing to overturn the results of the election in multiple states, and President Trump won by not only hundreds of thousands of votes, but by millions of votes that were shifted by this software [Smartmatic] that was designed expressly for that purpose.

We have sworn witness testimony of why the software was designed - it was designed to rig elections...They did this on purpose. It was calculated. They've done it before...We have so much evidence I feel like it's coming in through a firehose.

Millions of Americans have written, I would say, by now. Definitely hundreds of thousands have stepped forward with their different experiences of voter fraud. But this is a massive election fraud, and I'm very concerned it involved not only Dominion and its Smartmatic software, but that the software was essentially used by other election machines also.

In fact, every state that bought Dominion, for sure, should have a criminal investigation or at least a serious investigation of the officers in the states who bought the software. We've even got evidence of some kickbacks, essentially.

Source:

(November 15, 2020). "Attorney Powell on election legal challenges that remain active in several states". Fox News. Retrieved 2020-11-20.

On November 17, 2020, two members of the four-member board of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers in Michigan failed to certify that county's election results, creating a 2-2 tie. Wayne county is Michigan's largest. Later in the day, the two dissenting members changed their votes resulting in a 4-0 vote to certify.

On November 19, 2020, Trump's legal team held a news conference lead by Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani suggested that the Trump campaign's claims of voter fraud were part of a concerted effort or master plan by the Democratic Party across multiple states.

Sidney Powell described a different scenario which includes "massive influence of communist money through Venezuela, Cuba, and likely China", Smartmatic elections software developed by Dominion Voting Systems that supposedly helped former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez remain illegally in power by allowing votes to be tampered with and changed, links to Democratic supporter George Soros, links to the Clinton Foundation, and links to other politicians.

On November 20, 2020, the two Republican leaders of the Michigan state legislature (House Speaker Lee Chatfield and Senate President Mike Shirkey) met with Trump at the White House. After the meeting, both lawmakers released a statement on Twitter regarding their meeting with Trump.

Shirkey's statement discussed only issues regarding COVID-19.

Chatfield's statement, in addition to discussing COVID-19, said the following:

The Senate and House Oversight Committees are actively engaged in a thorough review of Michigan's elections process and we have faith in the committee process to provide greater transparency and accountability to our citizens. We have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan and as legislative leaders, we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan's electors, just as we have said throughout this election

Michigan's certification process should be a deliberate process free from threats and intimidation. Allegations of fraudulent behavior should be taken seriously, thoroughly investigated, and if proven, prosecuted to the full extent of the law. And the candidates who win the most votes win elections and Michigan's electoral votes. These are simple truths that should provide confidence in our elections.

On November 21, 2020, a joint letter was sent by Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Michigan Republican Party Chairman Laura Cox to the Michigan State Board of Canvassers. Here's an excerpt from the letter:

This board faces a stark choice: it can either ignore numerical anomalies and credible reports of procedural irregularities, leaving the distrust and sense of procedural disenfranchisement felt by many Michigan voters to fester for years; or it can adjourn for fourteen days to allow for a full audit and investigation into those anomalies and irregularities before certifying the results of the 2020 General Election, allowing all Michiganders to have confidence in the results.

Today, the Michigan State Board of Canvassers voted 3-0 to certify Michigan's election results.

Also today, a group of Republicans in Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit seeking to block certification in that state. Pennsylvania's deadline for certification of election results is today.

It's clear that the Trump campaign is now employing a fourth "lifeline" to pressure state boards to not certify election results.

Unless Trump lawyer Sidney Powell can show enough evidence to prove the elaborate scheme of coordinated massive voter fraud that she's described, and show it soon, her entire story will be dismissed as just another pathetic attempt by Trump and his associates to undermine American democracy.

There are still several lawsuits outstanding, and for sure there will be more filed in the upcoming weeks, but at present Trump's current election lawsuit score stands at 2 wins (partial and inconsequential) and 34 losses. It's possible that one or more of these might eventually make their way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it's unclear as to what the outcomes would be and whether or not the decisions would affect enough votes to change the results of the election.

If you step back and take a "bird's eye" view, I think it's clear that one major objective of the Trump campaign's efforts is to create a narrative of massive voter fraud and to sway public opinion. The campaign's hope is that so much doubt and suspicion about the election results will be generated, that perhaps a substantial number of Republican-controlled state legislatures will feel obligated to designate "faithless electors" - enough to flip the election for Trump.

December 8 is the deadline for state election officials to finalize their slates of electors. Even after state governors have certified election results, it's still within the realm of possibility that enough state legislatures could "go rogue" and create one of the greatest constitutional crises our country has ever faced.

Nov 17, 2020:

On November 14, 2020, CNN published an op-ed entitled "The Electoral College is not going to give Trump a second term". The article was written by Robert Alexander (professor of political science and founding director of the Institute for Civics and Public Policy at Ohio Northern University).

In the op-ed, Alexander discusses two possible elector scenarios, both of which he says won't happen in the 2020 election:

One scenario is that state legislatures could choose their own slate of electors, which could give Donald Trump the 270 electoral votes he would need to win a majority in the Electoral College. Another scenario is that "faithless electors" could flip from Biden to Trump, providing him those 270 electoral votes — and a second term.

Regarding the first scenario, Alexander says that the Electoral Count Act (of 1887) dictates that state rules as to how electors are chosen must be finalized prior to election day. In an article by Daniel Baer (referenced previously in this post), Baer puts forth a scenario that seems to contradict this. Baer suggests that states could in fact change elector rules/laws right after an election, citing the controversy and suspicion over election fraud, and perceived "irregularities" in the 2020 election.

Regarding the second scenario, Alexander looks back in U.S. election history noting that overall, very few electors have ever voted "faithless." He notes that based on his own surveys of past elections, even though many electors are lobbied to change their votes after the election, few ever change them.

Source:

Alexander, Robert. (November 14, 2020). "The Electoral College is not going to give Trump a second term". CNN. Retrieved 2020-11-17.

As I mentioned previously in this post, each state has different laws regarding faithless electors. One important thing to note is that only 14 of the 50 state's laws provide for "faithless" votes to be cancelled and for the "faithless" elector to be replaced. Georgia (16) and Pennsylvania (20) have no faithless elector laws. Wisconsin (10) has a law with a penalty for voting "faithless" but "faithless" votes still count. These three states have enough electoral votes between them (46) to flip the election to Trump.

Based on current vote totals (November 17, 2020 at 1:00 pm MST), Biden has 290 electoral votes and Trump has 232. If you assume the recount in Georgia holds for Biden (which would give him 306) and you do the math, if 38 of the 46 electors of the three states I just mentioned vote "faithless", Trump wins 271-269.

Now, keep in mind that the "three-state" scenario I'm suggesting is only one of many possible scenarios. I chose these three states as an example because their elector laws (or lack of laws) might be the most simple path to victory for Trump. If you consider other states with more strict laws (for example, Arizona), if the laws in those states can in fact be changed post-election, then that would give Trump even more possible chances for a win.

What I conclude from this is that it's unclear whether states could in fact legally change faithless voter laws immediately after an election (with the intent of allowing electors to vote against the will of the state's popular vote). It's also unclear as to whether enough electors are willing to "go rogue" and vote "faithless" to flip the election to Trump.