US elections 2020: Donald Trump sues in 3 states, laying ground for contesting outcome

President Donald Trump’s campaign filed lawsuits on Wednesday in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, laying groundwork for contesting battleground states as he slipped behind Democrat Joe Biden in hunt for 270 Electoral College votes needed to win White House.

new filings, joining existing Republican legal challenges in Pennsylvania and Nevada, demand better access for campaign observers to locations where ballots are being processed and counted, and raise absentee ballot concerns, campaign said. However, at one Michigan location in question Associated Press observed poll watchers from both sides monitoring on Wednesday.

AP called Michigan for Democrat Joe Biden on Wednesday. Nevada, Pennsylvania and Georgia are undecided.

Trump campaign also is seeking to intervene in a Pennsylvania case at Supreme Court that deals with wher ballots received up to three days after election can be counted, deputy campaign manr Justin Clark said.

actions reveal an emerging legal strategy that president had signaled for weeks, namely that he would attack integrity of voting process in states where result could mean his defeat.

His campaign also anunced that it would ask for a recount in Wisconsin, a state AP called for Biden on Wednesday afteron. Campaign manr Bill Stepien cited “irregularities in several Wisconsin counties,” without providing specifics.

Biden said Wednesday count should continue in all states, adding, “ one’s going to take our democracy away from us — t w, t ever.”

Campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said legal challenges were t behavior of a winning campaign.

“What makes se charades especially patic is that while Trump is demanding recounts in places he has already lost, he’s simultaneously engd in fruitless attempts to halt counting of votes in or states in which he’s on road to defeat,” Bates said in a statement.

Election officials continued to count votes across country, rmal process on day following voting. Unlike in previous years, states were contending with an avalanche of mail ballots driven by fears of voting in person during a pandemic. At least 103 million people voted early, eir by mail or in-person, representing 74% of total votes cast in 2016 presidential election.

Every election, results reported on election night are ufficial and counting of ballots extends past Election Day. Mail ballots rmally take more time to verify and count. This year, because of large numbers of mail ballots and a close race, results were expected to take longer.

Trump campaign said it is calling for a temporary halt in counting in Michigan and Pennsylvania until it is given “meaningful” access in numerous locations and allowed to review ballots that already have been opened and processed.

AP’s Michigan call for Biden came after suit was filed. president is ahead in Pennsylvania but his margin is shrinking as more mailed ballots are counted.

re have been reports of fraud or any type of ballot concerns out of Pennsylvania. state had 3.1 million mail-in ballots that take time to count and an order allows m to be received and counted up until Friday if y are postmarked by v. 3.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a CNN interview lawsuit was “more a political document than a legal document.”

“re is transparency in this process. counting has been going on. re are observers observing this counting, and counting will continue,” he said.

Michigan lawsuit claims Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, was allowing absentee ballots to be counted without teams of bipartisan observers as well as challengers. She’s accused of undermining “constitutional right of all Michigan voters ... to participate in fair and lawful elections.” Michigan Democrats said suit was a longshot.

Poll watchers from both sides were plentiful Wednesday at one major polling place in question — TCF Center in Detroit, Associated Press observed. y checked in at a table near entrance to convention center’s Hall E and strolled among tables where ballot processing was taking place. In some cases, y arrived en masse and huddled toger for a group discussion before fanning out to floor. Uniformed Detroit police officers were on hand to make sure everyone was behaving.

Mark Brewer, a former state Democratic chairman who said he was observing Detroit vote counting as a volunteer lawyer, said he had been at TCF arena all day and had talked with ors who had been re past couple of days. He said Republicans had t been denied access.

“This is best absentee ballot counting operation that Detroit has ever had. y are counting ballots very efficiently, despite obstructing tactics of Republicans.”

GOP lawyers had already launched legal challenges involving absentee votes in Pennsylvania and Nevada, contesting local decisions that could take on national significance in close election.

In one appeal to a Pennsylvania appellate court, Trump campaign complained that one of its representatives was prevented from seeing writing on mail-in ballots that were being opened and processed in Philadelphia. A judge in Philadelphia dismissed it, saying that poll observers are directed to observe, t audit.

Georgia lawsuit filed in Chatham County essentially asks a judge to ensure state laws are being followed on absentee ballots. Campaign officials said y were considering peppering a dozen or counties around state with similar claims around absentee ballots.

Trump, addressing supporters at White House early Wednesday, talked about taking undecided race to Supreme Court. Though it was unclear what he meant, his comments evoked a reprise of court’s intervention in 2000 presidential election that ended with a decision effectively handing presidency to George W. Bush.

But re are important differences from 2000 and y already were on display. In 2000, Republican-controlled Florida was critical state and Bush clung to a small lead. Democrat Al Gore asked for a recount and Supreme Court stopped it.

To some election law experts, calling for Supreme Court to intervene w seemed premature, if t rash.

A case would have to come to court from a state in which outcome would determine election’s winner, Richard Hasen, a University of California, Irvine, law professor, wrote on Election Law blog. difference between candidates’ vote totals would have to be smaller than ballots at stake in lawsuit

“As of this moment (though things can change) it does t appear that eir condition will be met,” Hasen wrote.

Ohio State University election law professor Edward Foley wrote on Twitter Wednesday: “ valid votes will be counted. ( Supreme Court) would be involved only if re were votes of questionable validity that would make a difference, which might t be case. rule of law will determine official winner of popular vote in each state. Let rule of law work.”

Biden campaign attorney Bob Bauer said if Trump goes to high court, “he will be in for one of most embarrassing defeats a president has ever suffered by highest court in land.”

justices could decide to step into dispute over three-day extension for absentee ballots if y prove crucial to outcome in Pennsylvania.

Even a small number of contested votes could matter if a state determines winner of election and gap between Trump and Biden is small.