People walk outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Monday, March 16, 2020.
President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign wants the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse his loss in Pennsylvania over a trio of legal challenges that question the validity of 110,000 mail-in ballots.
Former Vice President Joe Biden won Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes last week after defeating Trump by roughly 81,000 votes.
Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, said in a statement the petition challenges three actions taken by the courts that the campaign says undermined the election’s integrity, including: eliminating the statutory requirements that voters properly sign, date and address mail-in ballots; prohibiting campaign representatives from challenging “irregular” ballots or verifying the validity of signatures during the canvassing process and; agreeing that giving observers access to the same room – hundreds of yards in size in the case of the Philadelphia Convention Center – satisfies state law that requires proper access during ballot counting.
The lawsuit alleges that the decisions together cloud the validity of 2.6 million mail-in ballots cast in Pennsylvania.
“According to public reports, without these protections, the resulting disqualification rate of invalid ballots was anemic – meaning over 110,000 invalid ballots were illegally counted – more than enough to have affected the outcome of the election, where the margin between the two principal candidates for President currently stands at 80,558,” the complaint reads.
“The petition seeks all appropriate remedies, including vacating the appointment of electors committed to Joseph Biden and allowing the Pennsylvania General Assembly to select their replacements,” Giuliani said over the weekend. “The Campaign also moved for expedited consideration, asking the Supreme Court to order responses by December 23 and a reply by December 24 to allow the U.S. Supreme Court to rule before Congress meets on January 6 to consider the votes of the electoral college.”
The court isn’t scheduled to meet again until Jan. 8. Even so, a reversal of Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes won’t undo Biden’s win or put Trump past the 270 threshold.
State Republicans alleged similar “irregularities” undermined the results, too, but refused to change electors in defiance of the certified popular vote. The House State Government Committee instead launched an investigation into the circumstances that led to uneven application of Act 77 – the 2019 law permitting no-excuse mail-in voting – across the state. Republican leaders in both chambers also called for an audit of the counting process.
Trump on Monday morning hinted at "big news" to come out of Pennsylvania. It was unclear if he was referring to the legal cases or something else.
"Big news coming out of Pennsylvania," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Very big illegal ballot drop that cannot be accounted for. Rigged Election!"
Gov. Tom Wolf and Democrats have characterized Trump's various lawsuits alleging widespread fraud – dozens across the nation that have been dismissed for lack of evidence – as desperate and dangerous attempts to disenfranchise millions of voters.
Even congressional Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have signaled their desire for the president to drop the legal challenges. He reportedly told fellow GOP senators during a conference call last week that they shouldn't join House Republicans in challenging the electoral college votes when lawmakers meet to certify the results on Jan. 6.
See also:
Pa. Presidential Electors Officially Cast Votes for Joe Biden
U.S. Supreme Court Declines To Hear Lawsuit Seeking To Overturn Pennsylvania Presidential Election
Republicans Ask U.S. Supreme Court To Invalidate Pennsylvania’s Election Results
Conservative Lawmakers Call For Special Session Of Legislature To Consider Election Issues
Pa. Declares Biden As Winner Of State’s 2020 Presidential Election, Certifies Results
