Published 12:19 IST, November 14th 2020
Donald Trump faces legal setbacks in Michigan, Pennsylvania as law firm steps down
Court ruled out Donald Trump plea to block 9,300 mail-in ballots that arrived after Election Day in Pennsylvania, citing the pandemic crisis delays
Of the eight and counting lawsuits filed by US President Donald Trump and his lawyers, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani contesting the electoral integrity, the Trump administration has suffered a legal drawback in at least three swing states. While courts in Pennsylvania were weighing mail-in ballots lawsuits, a law firm for President Trump’s campaign was lambasted as it scrambled to withdraw a separate Pa. case.
On November 13, the court ruled out the plea to block 9,300 mail-in ballots that arrived after Election Day in Pennsylvania, citing the pandemic crisis delays. Judges upheld the three-day extension as they noted “vast disruption” and “unprecedented challenges” that caused delays for citizens ad USPS postal services for turning in the absentee ballots well within the deadlines.
The court, which eventually will hear the Trump campaign’s and Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled legislature arguments related to mail-in ballot counting, rejected the 3-day deadline extension contesting, challenged by the Pennsylvania GOP. The US Supreme Court had previously rejected Pennsylvania Republicans' requests to block the extension, saying, the judges might take the case on the merits post-elections. However, the Chief US Circuit Judge D. Brooks Smith having instructed the Pennsylvania State Department to segregate the mail-in ballots with missing voter ID information provided after Nov. 9., declared no discrepancies, as such. Judges panel “kept in mind a proposition indisputable in our democratic process: that the lawfully cast vote of every citizen must count,” the Chief US Circuit Judge pronounced.
The Trump campaign had filed the lawsuit in the keystone state, alleging, that Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar had illegally extended the deadline from Nov. 9 to Nov. 12 in the state for mail-in voters to supply mission IDs. Subsequently, the Trump campaign filed a petition in Montgomery County alleging voter fraud, asking courts to block 600 absentee and mail-in ballots that had address discrepancies.
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However, on Nov. 13., a Pa. judge ruled out the petition, noting, that the ballot instructions didn’t mandate the complete address on the absentee ballots to invalidate it. The court also dismissed the emergency order sought by the Reps. From the Supreme Court to invalidate the late-arriving ballots in 25 of 67 Pennsylvania counties and not show in the tallies as nonbinding on county boards, sources of abcNY confirmed. While the US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito ordered the Pennsylvania county boards of election to segregate the pending late-arriving ballots, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro informed that Pa. counties had been largely complying with the Pennsylvania Secretary of State's guidance.
[Members of the Allegheny County Return Board process the remaining absentee and mail-in Allegheny County ballots on the North Side in Pittsburgh. Steve Mellon/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP]
Michigan lawsuit
Trump campaign's lawsuit alleging electoral fraud and voting irregularities, especially in Wayne County that leaned heavily blue, was rejected by Chief Justice Timothy Kenny of the Third Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan. The judges ruled the lawsuit as "plaintiffs' interpretation of events is incorrect and not credible." "It would be an unprecedented exercise of judicial activism for this Court to stop the certification process of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers," the content of the ruling letter stated. In Michigan, US President-elect Joe Biden holds 150,000 vote lead. Judge Kenny rejected an attempt by Attorney David Fink, representing Detroit to block the certification of a Joe Biden win in Detroit, as well.
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(With AP Images and Input)
Updated 12:19 IST, November 14th 2020