US President Donald Trump waves upon arrival, alongside Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton (L) in Dallas, Texas, on June 11, 2020, where he will host a roundtable with faith leaders and small business owners.
Nicholas Kamm | AFP | Getty Images
Texas’ Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday announced a lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate the presidential election results in four key swing states that helped secure Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump.
The lawsuit, which was filed directly to the Supreme Court, asserts that “unlawful election results” in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan — all of which Biden won — should be declared unconstitutional.
The filing argues that those states used the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to unlawfully change their election rules “through executive fiat or friendly lawsuits, thereby weakening ballot integrity.”
“Any electoral college votes cast by such presidential electors appointed” in those states “cannot be counted,” Texas asks the high court to rule.
The Lone Star State’s attempt to discount other states’ electoral votes follows a slew of long-shot legal challenges with similar goals that have been brought in lower courts by Trump’s campaign and other attorneys. Those lawsuits have repeatedly failed to invalidate ballots cast for Biden.
The claims in Texas’ lawsuit “are false and irresponsible,” Georgia’s deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs said in a fiery statement shortly after Paxton announced the legal action.
“Texas alleges that there are 80,000 forged signatures on absentee ballots in Georgia, but they don’t bring forward a single person who this happened to. That’s because it didn’t happen,” Fuchs’ statement said.
Experts in election law were also quick to dismiss the likelihood of the nine Supreme Court justices taking the case. Paul Smith, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, said the case was “wacko.”
“There is a whole system in Pennsylvania and the other states for contesting the election — that’s all been done,” Smith said. “I don’t think the Supreme Court will have interest in this.”
The professor added that Texas could run into trouble in proving that it has grounds to sue, known in legal terms as “standing.”
“It’s totally unprecedented, the idea that one state would, at the Supreme Court, claim that other states’ votes were cast in the wrong way — that’s never happened,” he said. “What is the injury to the state of Texas because Pennsylvania’s votes were cast for Mr. Biden instead of Mr. Trump? There is no connection there.”
The lawsuit against the four states comes on a pivotal deadline in the election certification process, known as the “safe harbor” threshold, after which Congress is compelled to accept states’ certified results.
Six days later, electors in the Electoral College will cast their votes, finalizing Biden’s win. The suit is also asking the Supreme Court to extend that Dec. 14 deadline “to allow these investigations to be completed.”
In most cases, the Supreme Court only hears cases that have been appealed from lower courts. In cases between two or more states, however, the court has original jurisdiction.
The case is not the first over the election to reach the justices, though the court has yet to deliver a substantial ruling for either side. In another suit the court could soon weigh in on, Republican Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, a Trump ally, is challenging virtually all of the state’s mail-in ballots, urging the court to nullify millions of votes.
Biden is projected to win 306 Electoral College votes — 36 more than needed to beat Trump, who is set to receive 232 such votes.
But Trump is refusing to concede to Biden. The president, more than a month after Election Day, continues to falsely insist he won the race while spreading a wide array of unproven conspiracy theories that purport to show electoral or voter fraud.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.