Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
The Trump campaign legal team is throwing everything at the wall
in battleground states — a last-ditch effort to use the courts to
freeze time in states where President Trump was ahead (but keep
counting in key places where he appeared behind).
Why it matters: None of the legal actions
was poised to change the outcome, but the effort could delegitimize
the 2020 election in the eyes of millions of Trump supporters even
if the final math based on legitimate counts show Joe Biden the
winner.
The big picture: The lawsuits themselves aren’t
raising issues big enough to turn the election in Trump’s favor,
and the claims they do make are often failing in the courts.
- “It’s difficult to see the long-term winning strategy behind
these lawsuits,” Republican elections attorney Ben Ginsberg told
Axios. “To mix metaphors, it looks like throwing the kitchen sink
at the wall and see what sticks.”
Where it stands: Here’s a rundown of the
specific arguments the Trump campaign is making in each state, and
the latest developments in all of that litigation.
Arizona: The Trump campaign and Republican
National Committee filed a lawsuit Saturday alleging that Maricopa
County incorrectly rejected votes cast by in-person voters on
Election Day — hours after Biden was projected to become the 46th
U.S. president.
- Arizona Secretary of State Kaite Hobbs, a named defendant in
the legal action, told 12 News it seems to be a “repacked” version
of a lawsuit that was dropped earlier on Saturday on the use of
Sharpies to complete election ballots in Phoenix.
Pennsylvania, Part 1: The Trump campaign is
making several claims in Pennsylvania, in both state and federal
courts, and has won some partial victories.
- One suit in federal court asked for a halt to vote-counting in
Philadelphia until GOP election monitors gained more access to the
process. A state court ruled earlier in the day those monitors had
to be able to get closer to the action. - Republicans are also challenging state rules that gave voters
extra time to fix certain errors on their mail-in ballots — for
example, complying with ID requirements. Those ballots have to be
set aside while the courts debate whether they can be counted.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Pennsylvania, Part 2: The only legal challenge
so far to raise a bigger constitutional issue is the effort to
block Pennsylvania from counting mail-in ballots arriving after
Election Day.
- There’s already a case pending at the Supreme Court about
whether state election officials had the authority to extend the
vote-counting deadline beyond Nov. 3, and the Trump campaign this
week sought to participate in that suit. - It’s a real controversy, and one in which four of the high
court’s conservative justices have already tried to get involved.
But its outcome would only matter if Pennsylvania is the tipping
point state for Biden, and if the margin of victory is smaller than
the small number of late ballots. - “I don’t think it is going to be a tremendous impact
on the race,” Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said
on CNN.
Michigan: A state judge dismissed the Trump
campaign’s Michigan lawsuit yesterday.
- The suit sought to stop the state’s vote counting, alleging
election monitors didn’t have enough visibility into the process.
The judge said the complaint was based on hearsay and noted the
counting was nearly complete anyway.
Georgia: The campaign also lost this one
Friday.
- Its lawsuit said election monitors weren’t sure how well
election officials in one county were segregating late-arriving
ballots, which can’t be counted in Georgia. The county said it was
following the rules. A judge dismissed the case.
Wisconsin: The campaign said it will request a
recount there — but as of late Thursday, neither the Trump campaign
nor the state Republican Party had filed any election-related
litigation.
Nevada: The Trump campaign also announced they
would be suing in Nevada, claiming widespread voter fraud. The suit
was filed late Thursday and includes one voter’s allegation that
she attempted to vote in person, but was told she had already cast
a ballot by mail.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with
details on the Arizona lawsuits.
Read more https://swordpress.com.ng/2020/11/21/110374/