Whirlwind of election lawsuits filed by Trump face dismissal in court
Following election week, the Trump administration has persistently decried the results and filed numerous lawsuits in battleground states including Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia, and Michigan, many of which are coming up empty-handed. Trump and his allies have publicly alleged the occurrence of widespread voter fraud despite lawyers steering clear of such charges while litigating.
The lawsuits that have held up in court are unlikely to shift the election’s outcome in favor of Trump. In a high-profile case, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito ruled partially in favor of Pennsylvania’s GOP on Nov. 6 and ordered counties to continue segregating late-arriving ballots from the rest.
However, Alito rejected the campaign’s request to halt the counting process of ballots that were delivered after Election Day. According to the state attorney general’s response, there is no need for further intervention from the high court because the mandate is being appropriately observed.
Attempts to put a hold on ballot counting from the Trump campaign have largely been unsuccessful. Claims of there being restricted access for Republican poll observers in Philadelphia were dismissed by U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond on Nov. 5.
On the same day, in a decision that did not impact the vote count, a Pennsylvania judge allowed observers to stand at a 6-foot distance. Election officials appealed the decision and on Nov. 17, the state Supreme Court overturned the previous ruling, asserting that poll watchers do not have the right to stand at a specific distance.
In Montgomery County, Pennsylvania a lawsuit to stop the counting process was denied on Nov. 13, when an attorney representing the campaign testified that no allegations of voter fraud were being brought forward.
On Nov. 10, the campaign retracted a lawsuit filed in Nevada to expand public observation access during the Clark County counting process.
Few days prior, a federal judge turned down a petition against the county after a Nevada voter, Jill Stokey, claimed that she had experienced identity theft due to faulty signature verification technology.
Last week, Republican challengers attempted to delay the certification of Michigan’s election results in five separate lawsuits. Bids to deny final outcomes were refused by judges, including Wayne County Judge Timothy Kenny, who allowed Detroit results to go through.
Rudy Guliani, who is currently at the forefront of Trump’s legal battle, promised during a Fox News appearance on Sunday, Nov. 15, that the election results will be “overturned,” in the near future through the campaign’s extensive litigation efforts.
