In a move that could have only happened in 2020, the state of Texas is suing Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin at the Supreme Court in the hopes of helping President Donald Trump upend the results of the U.S. election. According to the Texas lawsuit, officials believe there were unlawful changes made to election procedures amid the coronavirus pandemic that deserve, apparently, state-by-state charges.
The long-shot lawsuit, which came to light on Tuesday by Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, is being filed directly with the Supreme Court, where there is currently a 6-3 conservative majority. Though many are concerned over how Texas is able to bring this case to the high court right off the bat. The practice of bypassing lower courts is permitted for certain types of litigation between states. and the aim of this suit is for the results in those four states, all of which President-elect Joe Biden won, to be declared unconstitutional because they allegedly used the pandemic as an excuse to change their election rules “through executive fiat or friendly lawsuits, thereby weakening ballot integrity.”
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Like other legal challenges put forth in lower courts by Trump’s campaign, this lawsuit suggests that there are tens of thousands of forged signatures that only got through because of the increase in mail-in voting due to COVID-19. Also, like the other lawsuits, state officials insist there is no evidence of any such fraud that would change the results, reports Reuters. This is but the latest legal effort intended to reverse Trump’s loss in the November 3 election. So far, those efforts have failed, often due to lack of evidence.
Officials from Georgia and Michigan have responded to the Texas suit by denying all claims. Georgia’s deputy secretary of state, Jordan Fuchs, called the lawsuit “false and irresponsible” in a statement released shortly after news broke. “Texas alleges that there are 80,000 forged signatures on absentee ballots in Georgia,” Fuchs continued. “But they don’t bring forward a single person who this happened to. That’s because it didn’t happen.” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel described the suit as a “publicity stunt” that is “beneath the dignity” of Paxton’s office.
Some legal experts believe that the unprecedented case will have a difficult time proving that it is more than a piece of political theatre. In order to have legitimate grounds to sue, the state of Texas would need to show evidence of injury as a direct result of each of the states voting in favor of Biden over Trump. For this reason, experts theorize that the Supreme Court justices might dismiss the case. Simply put, Texas must establish just cause and it can’t be “just ‘cause” they don’t like the election results.
Trump and his associates have been accused of purposely trying to reduce public confidence in the integrity of U.S. elections in an attempt to undermine American democracy and subvert the will of the voters. Still, it seems as though they have not exhausted their list of lawsuits before finally accepting the results of the election. But like their other attempts, this one seems destined to fail.