Several more states' AGs offer support for Texas' Supreme Court election lawsuit

Attorneys general in several additional states — Alabama,
Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri — appeared to throw their
support behind a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
this week
alleging that four battleground states exploited the
coronavirus pandemic to make unconstitutional changes to mail-in
voting rules.

In
the lawsuit filed directly with the Supreme Court late Monday
night, Paxton accused officials in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania,
and Wisconsin of “violat[ing] statutes enacted by their duly
elected legislatures” in order to allow for increased mail-in
balloting, thus violating the equal protections clause and skewing
the 2020 election results.

The lawsuit is seeking a delay to the Electoral College vote
until investigations into potential election fraud can be
completed.

“Their failure to abide by the rule of law casts a dark shadow
of doubt over the outcome of the entire election,” Paxton stated in
a Tuesday news release about the complaint. “We now ask that the
Supreme Court step in to correct this egregious error.”

Other states are backing Texas

As of Wednesday morning, attorneys general in at least four
additional states have expressed support for the lawsuit.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall seemed to indicate on
Twitter that his state would join the suit, if it was granted a
hearing by the Supreme Court.

“The unconstitutional and fraudulent votes in other states not
only affect the citizens of those states, they affect the citizens
of all states — of the entire United States. Every unlawful vote
counted, or lawful vote uncounted, debases and dilutes citizens’
free exercise of the franchise,” he wrote in a statement. “The
State of Alabama will continue to pursue any legal remedy available
to protect her people from such disenfranchisement.”

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced after
reviewing the lawsuit that she would “support the motion by the
State of Texas in all legally appropriate manners.”

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry also endorsed the
lawsuit, noting in a statement that
“millions of Louisiana citizens, and tens of millions of our fellow
citizens in the country, have deep concerns regarding the conduct
of the 2020 federal elections. Deeply rooted in these concerns is
the fact that some states appear to have conducted their elections
with a disregard to the U.S. Constitution.”

“Louisiana citizens are damaged if elections in other states
were conducted outside the confines of the Constitution while we
obeyed the rules,” he added.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt made no qualms about his
state’s position, saying plainly, “Missouri is in the fight.”

“Election integrity is central to our republic. And I will
defend it at every turn. As I have in other cases — I will help
lead the effort in support of Texas’ #SCOTUS
filing today. Missouri is in the fight,” Schmitt said in a
tweet.

Anything else?

In his statement of support, Landry, the Louisiana attorney
general, also made mention of
a filing he and attorneys general from nine other states submitted
last month that petitioned the Supreme Court to look into
Pennsylvania’s election conduct.

“In states like Pennsylvania, the judicial branch attempted to
seize control of these duties and obligations and to set their own
rules. These actions appear to be unconstitutional,” he wrote. “If
it is unconstitutional for Pennsylvania to take this action, it is
similarly unconstitutional for other states to have done the
same.”

This filing is wholly separate from Texas’ most recent filing,
but nonetheless has been confused with the Texas filing by some on
social media.

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