The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday declined to take up one
of the lawsuits filed in the state by the Trump campaign earlier in
the week, determining in a 4-3 decision that the petition seeking
to toss out more than 220,000 absentee ballots should be heard by a
lower court.
What are the details?
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence,
and their re-election campaign
sued Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) and several election
officials in the state, presenting what the
campaign called “clear evidence of unlawfulness” that is says
“affected no less than approximately 221,000 ballots out of over
the three three million ballots cast.”
But the majority of the state’s highest court agreed that under
Wisconsin law, the case should first be seen by a circuit
court.
The Washington Post reported that “one conservative member of
the panel, Brian Hagedorn, joined the court’s three more liberal
members in declining to take the case,” writing “that he had
determined the court should decline to take the case so the Trump
campaign could ‘promptly exercise’ its right to seek action in a
lower court.”
Courthouse News noted that “the other three members of the
court’s conservative majority dissented.”
The outlet reported:
Grassl Bradley, an appointee of Republican former
Governor Scott Walker, wrote that “the majority takes a pass on
resolving the important questions presented by the petitioners in
this case, thereby undermining the public’s confidence in the
integrity of Wisconsin’s electoral processes not only during this
election, but in every future election.”
In reaction to the court’s narrow decision, Trump campaign
attorney James Troupis said in a
statement, “We welcome the direction of the Supreme Court to
file in Dane and Milwaukee Counties as we pursue making certain
that only legal votes count in Wisconsin — and we will
immediately do so.”
He added, “It was clear from their writings that the court
recognizes the seriousness of these issues, and we look forward to
taking the next step. We fully expect to be back in front of the
Supreme Court very soon.”
Anything else?
The Trump/Pence campaign has filed dozens of lawsuits
nationwide, alleging widespread voting fraud and irregularities in
several states in challenging Democratic presidential nominee Joe
Biden as the projected winner.
The Hill noted that their litigation attempts “have largely
proved unsuccessful.”
On Wednesday, the campaign filed
another lawsuit in Wisconsin (in district court) against the
Wisconsin Elections Commission and the mayors of the state’s five
largest cities: Milwaukee, Madison, Kenosha, Green Bay and
Racine.
The official Wisconsin tally indicates Biden won the state by
more than 20,000 votes.
