/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5fd4047b1de3cb79380d9381/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=6719&cropY1=414&cropY2=4194&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1 "Supreme Court Rejects Trump-Backed Texas Lawsuit Trying To Overturn Election")
Topline
The U.S. Supreme Court threw out Friday a lawsuit from Texas that sought to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in four battleground states, dealing the biggest blow yet to President Donald Trump’s overwhelmingly unsuccessful effort to challenge the election results in the courts as he and his allies had rallied behind the long-shot litigation.
The U.S. Supreme Courthouse is seen in Washington, D.C. May 19, 2019 (Photo by Aurora … [+]
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Key Facts
Texas sued Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia over their voting rules that expanded voting access amid the Covid-19 pandemic, alleging they led to irregularities that justify throwing out the states’ presidential election results.
The lawsuit was widely decried by legal experts, who described its arguments as “laughable” and “utter garbage” and projected the case had almost no chance of success.
Trump, however, had hyped up the lawsuit as “the case that everyone has been waiting for” and directly attempted to intervene in the case, and an email sent to Republican lawmakers suggested the president was pressuring allies to publicly support the case.
Texas’ motion to file the complaint was denied for lack of standing, the justices said in the order, as “Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections.”
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas said in a statement that they do not believe the court had discretion to deny the motion to file the case, believing the court is compelled to take up cases that fall under their original jurisdiction and skip the lower courts (as state disputes do), but “would not grant other relief” and “express no view on any other issue.”
Key Background
The Texas case is now the second post-election lawsuit the Supreme Court has rejected, after the high court previously threw out a lawsuit brought by Pennsylvania GOP candidates challenging the state’s election results. The president and his allies had long pinned their hopes in their legal fight on the Supreme Court, repeatedly stating their goal with lower court cases was to get to the Supreme Court and predicting the election would be decided by the court and its 6-3 conservative majority. The Supreme Court’s rejection of the case is in line with how courts have overwhelmingly responded to the Trump campaign and GOP’s post-election cases, as Republicans have lost more than 50 court cases and only netted one minor win. A number of conservative judges have rejected the GOP’s arguments alleging voter fraud and improprieties with the election results, including multiple Trump appointees.
Tangent
In addition to the 17 Republican state attorneys general that backed the Texas lawsuit, the suit even garnered the support of states that don’t actually exist, as an amicus brief was filed on behalf of “New California and New Nevada.”
What To Watch For
There are still other outstanding legal challenges to the election results that are still ongoing, including multiple Supreme Court petitions, though all are likely to fail. The deluge of post-election litigation is expected to be brought to an end by the Electoral College officially approving Biden’s win on Monday, though the Trump campaign has suggested it could potentially continue its fight into January. The broad support for Texas’ attempt to overturn the election results among the president’s congressional allies also suggests that lawmakers are likely to try to challenge the election results when Congress meets to approve the vote tallies on Jan. 6, though those efforts are not expected to succeed.
Further Reading
106 House Republicans Support Trump-Backed Lawsuit To Overturn Election (Forbes)
6 States Want To Join Texas, Trump Attempt To Overturn Election In Supreme Court (Forbes)
17 States Agree The Supreme Court Should Overturn Biden’s Win (Forbes)
Texas Asks Supreme Court To Overturn Biden’s Win In Last-Ditch Election Lawsuit (Forbes)
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