As Donald Trump continues to push falsehoods about the election, his legal team has failed to gain traction in court, present pertinent facts or evidence of widespread fraud. Experts widely agree the evidence doesn’t exist, and election officials have declared the election, won by Joe Biden, the most secure in American history.
Experts say Trump has almost no chance of reversing the result. But his repeated claims that the race was rigged are undermining public confidence in the system, the Associated Press reported, while instilling in his supporters the notion of an illegitimate Biden presidency.
The Republicans have made up to 30 legal challenges so far and by Thursday, more than two weeks after the polls closed for in-person voting and the bulk of mail-in ballots were received, 19 of those lawsuits had been denied, dismissed, settled or withdrawn, NBC reported.
Here is a summary of where Republican election challenges stand in six states:
Arizona
The case The Arizona Republican party is trying to block the certification of the election results in the state’s most populous county, Maricopa, until the court rules on the party’s lawsuit asking for a new hand count of a sampling of ballots. An audit already completed by the county found no discrepancies, officials said.
What happened The judge has not issued a decision. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Wednesday.
In a separate case, Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee had sought to delay the certification of election results in Maricopa County. A judge dismissed the case on 13 November.
Georgia
The case A high-profile conservative attorney, L Lin Wood Jr, has sued in an attempt to block the certification of election results in Georgia. Wood alleges Georgia illegally changed the process for handling absentee ballots, involving standards for judging signatures on absentee ballot envelopes. Georgia’s deputy secretary of state has called Wood’s case a “silly, baseless claim”.
What happened A judge has scheduled a hearing for Thursday to consider a request for a temporary restraining order to halt certification.
Michigan
The case Trump’s campaign is trying to block the certification of election results in the state, alleging that election officials “allowed fraud and incompetence to corrupt the conduct of the 2020 general election”.
Another lawsuit filed this week on behalf of two Republican poll challengers asks a court to halt the certification of election results until an independent audit is completed to “ensure the accuracy and integrity of the election”.
What happened There have been no decisions in either case. Judges have already swatted down several other Republican efforts to block certification in the Detroit area. The Trump campaign on Thursday withdrew their federal lawsuit challenging the Detroit-area results.
Nevada
The case Trump’s campaign is asking a judge to nullify Nevada’s election results or set them aside and declare him the winner, arguing that illegal or improper votes were cast and the use of optical scanning to process signatures on mail-in ballots violated state law. The Trump lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, rehashes arguments that judges in Nevada and elsewhere have already rejected.
In a separate court filing this week, a voting watchdog group led by a conservative former state lawmaker wants a judge to block statewide certification of the election.
What happened There have been no rulings in either case.
Pennsylvania
The case A Trump campaign case aims to stop the state from certifying the election, alleging Philadelphia and six counties wrongly allowed voters to correct problems with mail-in ballots that were otherwise going to be disqualified for a technicality, like lacking a secrecy envelope or a signature. The total number of affected ballots was not expected to come anywhere close to Biden’s margin of more than 80,000 votes.
What happened Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, jumped into a case this week after others withdrew, and the former New York City mayor argued in court on Tuesday for the first time since the 1990s. Giuliani made wild allegations of a nationwide conspiracy by Democrats to steal the election. No ruling yet.
Wisconsin
The case Trump’s campaign on Wednesday filed for a recount in the counties that cover Milwaukee and Madison, both Democratic strongholds. It alleged that absentee ballots were illegally altered or issued and that officials violated state law.
What happened Biden leads Trump by 20,000 votes statewide. The recount requested by Trump will begin Friday and has to be complete by 1 December. Officials say there is no evidence to back up the claims.
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
