Rockland county rigged for Trump? 2024 US election results under scrutiny; NY lawsuit moves forward

A legal challenge questioning the accuracy of the 2024 election results in Rockland County, New York, is moving forward, according to a report by Newsweek. The lawsuit, filed by SMART Legislation, the legal advocacy arm of nonpartisan watchdog SMART Elections, raises concerns about vote counts and statistical anomalies in both the presidential and US Senate races.In May, New York Supreme Court Judge Rachel Tanguay ruled in open court that the allegations were serious enough to proceed to the discovery phase, where evidence will be formally gathered and reviewed.While the lawsuit is unlikely to affect the overall outcome—Congress has already certified President Donald Trump’s victory—it could reignite debate over election integrity. The complaint includes affidavits from voters who claim they voted for independent US Senate candidate Diane Sare, but their votes were not reflected in the certified count by the Rockland County Board of Elections.Additionally, Newsweek reports that the suit cites multiple voting districts where hundreds of voters selected Democratic Senate candidate Kirsten Gillibrand but allegedly cast no votes for Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. These patterns raised red flags for analysts.Max Bonamente, a physics and statistics professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, said the results in four out of five Rockland County towns were “statistically highly unlikely” compared to the 2020 election. “These data would require extreme sociological or political causes for their explanation, and would benefit from further assurances as to their fidelity,” he wrote.Lulu Friesdat, SMART Legislation’s founder, said, “There is clear evidence that the Senate results are incorrect, and there are statistical indications that the presidential results are highly unlikely. The best way to determine if the results are correct is to examine the paper ballots in a full public, transparent hand recount.”Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Northeastern University, told Newsweek that such statistical irregularities deserve investigation, though they may stem from non-malicious sources like error or miscalculation. He emphasised that the discrepancies were not significant enough to alter the outcome but said reviewing them could strengthen trust in the electoral process.A hearing in the case is scheduled for September 22. The plaintiffs are demanding a full hand recount of the presidential and Senate ballots cast in Rockland County.