More Legal Losses For Trump: Georgia, Arizona Courts Block Efforts To Delay Certifying Election Results

Topline

Judges in Arizona and Georgia struck down lawsuits Thursday brought by Republican plaintiffs seeking to challenge or delay the results of their states’ elections, delivering a blow to the Trump campaign and GOP’s attempts to block battleground states from certifying their election results and challenge Joe Biden’s presidential win.

Key Facts

Crucial Quote

“To halt the certification at literally the 11th hour would breed confusion and disenfranchisement that I find have no basis in fact and law,” Grimberg said Thursday when announcing his order.

Tangent

The Trump campaign also suffered a court defeat in Pennsylvania on Thursday, as a court in Bucks County rejected the campaign’s effort to throw out 2,177 mail-in ballots due to minor deficiencies. The campaign also withdrew an attempt to appeal a ruling upholding mail-in ballots in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, but a court did side with GOP plaintiffs who challenged 2,349 ballots in Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located.

Key Background

The Arizona and Georgia rulings are a setback to the Trump campaign’s reported new post-election strategy, which comes as the campaign and GOP’s post-election lawsuits have largely failed in court. Multiple reports suggest that rather than use the courts to directly overturn the election—which would not be possible, based on the current litigation—the campaign is focused on delaying or blocking battleground states from certifying their election results, which would then give GOP state legislators a possible opening to overturn the will of the voters and appoint their own electors. That strategy has begun to take shape in recent days: the campaign filed an amended legal complaint in Pennsylvania arguing the court should “[provide] for the Pennsylvania General Assembly to choose Pennsylvania’s electors,” and Trump is reportedly inviting Michigan state lawmakers to the White House after personally calling Republican election officials who attempted to block Michigan’s Wayne County from certifying its results. Experts have broadly denounced Trump’s efforts as likely to fail, however, and several state legislators who would have to participate in any attempts to undermine their state’s voters have said they do not intend to do so.

What To Watch For

The failed Arizona and Georgia lawsuits marked the last major GOP legal challenges to the election that were currently pending in those states, and the states’ election results are required to be certified by Monday and Friday, respectively. Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani suggested during a press conference Thursday that the campaign may still attempt to bring further lawsuits in those states, however, and the campaign suggested in a court filing Thursday that it may continue its attempts to have federal courts decertify states’ electors up until the Electoral College meets on Dec. 14.

Further Reading

Judge throws out Arizona GOP lawsuit on Maricopa County vote audit, rejects request to delay canvass (AZ Central)

Trump-Appointed Judge Rejects Lin Wood’s ‘Creative’ Election Lawsuit in Georgia (Law & Crime)

Trump Campaign Drops Michigan Lawsuit After GOP Board Members Try To Take Back Votes Certifying Election Results (Forbes)

Giuliani’s Wild Press Conference, Debunked: No Trump Campaign Voter Fraud Theories Are Holding Up In Court (Forbes)