Trump Has Two 'Longshot' Paths to Deny Election Results If He Loses, Election Experts Say

With the presidential election a week away, tensions are running high about the possibility that Donald Trump doesn't concede defeat if he loses like in 2020. And while legal experts are highlighting there are improved guardrails to prevent this from happening, there are still to "long shot" routes the Republican could take should he decide to go down that path.

Speaking to NBC News, Richard Hasen, an election expert and law professor at UCLA said one of the ways could be trying to delay certifying the results in certain counties or states. Considering there are several elected officials in battleground states who rejected the validity of the 2020 election, it wouldn't come up as a total surprise if they refused to certify a count or cause other delays.

However, other experts consulted by the outlet said the efforts would probably fade away, with higher officials in states such as Pennsylvania and Arizona having vowed to take local governments to court if they attempted any such moves.

"I think, ultimately, a combination of the state election officials, the attorney generals, who often represent them in court, and the courts themselves are going to tell people to just do their jobs and certify the correct results," said Gowri Ramachandran of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.

The other path would be trying to overturn the result in the Lower and Upper Houses. For that, however, he would need for Republicans to win both chambers of Congress and declare that the Electoral Count Reform Act is unconstitutional. He would then need to convince Republican-led state legislatures to send in competing slate of electors, even though that is the role of governors.

The plan would also require for Republicans to gain control of the Pennsylvania and Michigan state legislatures, which is currently not the case. The former is split between the two parties, while the latter is ruled by Democrats.

The House Speaker would then need to block candidates from securing an Electoral College majority, forcing a contingent election in the House to choose the president. Then, state delegations would have a single vote, and considering Republicans hold more state delegations, they would be able to choose the president. Then the Supreme Court would have to rule in their favor and say the move is legal.

However, another legal expert, election lawyer Matthew Sanderson told NBC News that even if enough Republicans turn and support the effort, Congress has "no mechanism" to declare its previous laws unconstitutional.

"Congress can only repeal its prior laws, and a joint congressional resolution would not repeal anything. On that basis, I think even a conservative Supreme Court would say that the Electoral Count Act (as reformed) would govern the process," he said.

A significant amount of voters are concerned about the possibility of another violent attempt to overturn the election's results. A new survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed that about four in 10 registered voters say they are fearful of a new attempt to overturn the election's results, with a similar share worried about legal efforts to do so. Moreover, about one in three also said they are "extremely" or "very" concerned about attempts by local or state election officials to stop the results from being tallied.

Nearly 90% of respondents said the loser of the presidential election is obligated to concede once every state has finished counting its votes, but that number slightly decreases among Republicans, with about eight in every 10 voters saying so.

Democrats and Republicans have different views on whether Trump will do so if he loses, with two-thirds of Republican voters thinking that will be the case, compared to only about one in 10 Democrats.

Overall, only about a third of voters expect former President Trump to accept the results and concede if he loses, compared to nearly eight in 10 voters who believe Harris will accept the results and concede in case she loses the election.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has downplayed the concerns, telling The Hill "we're going to respect the law." "We're going to follow the constitution to a T."