Nov. 21 (UPI) — The heads of the Michigan Republican Party and the Republican National Committee issued a joint statement Saturday asking the state’s canvassing board to delay certification of the 2020 presidential election.
Also on Saturday, a U.S. District Court judge dismissed a Trump campaign lawsuit that attempted to invalidate millions of Pennsylvania mail-in votes. The Trump campaign on Saturday night said the decision would be appealed with the intention of taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Also late Saturday, Trump’s campaign said it is seeking a machine recount in Georgia after a hand recount showed he lost by 12,284 votes, 49.51 percent at 49.25, and Gov. Brian Kemp signed certification of the vote. Campaigns can request an additional machine recount if a vote margin is within 0.5 percent. “We are focused on ensuring that every aspect of Georgia State Law and the U.S. Constitution are followed so that every legal vote is counted,” the campaign said in a statement.
Trump posted on Twitter on Wednesday: “The Georgia recount is a joke and is being done UNDER PROTEST. Even though thousands of fraudulent votes have been found, the real number is in matching signatures. Governor must open up the unconstitutional Consent Decree and call in the Legislature!”
In the letter, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel and Michigan Republican Chair Laura Cox suggested the board adjourn for 14 days for a “full audit and investigation” before certifying the state’s election results.
Before the letter’s release, Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state tweeted that an audit could not be conducted until after the election is certified.
Not sure who needs to hear this but under state law (MCL 168.31a) audits can only be conducted after the State Canvassers certify the election. This is b/c election officials do not have legal access to the documents needed to complete audits until the certification. More here: https://t.co/mjyUB1UMba- Jocelyn Benson (@JocelynBenson) November 20, 2020
On Friday, following a two-hour meeting with President Donald Trump, State Senate Republican leader Mike Shirkey and state House Speaker Lee Chatfield said they did not find evidence that would change the outcome of the election — and that they had used the meeting to ask the President for funding to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
President-elect Joe Biden won Michigan by about 150,000 votes.
The state, one of a handful where President Donald Trump has filed legal challenges, is scheduled to certify election results Monday.
The Pennsylvania suit was essentially the last major case seeking to throw out or block enough votes that could move a swing state in the incumbent’s favor. Biden has about an 80,000 vote lead.
“This claim, like Frankenstein’s Monster, has been haphazardly stitched together from two distinct theories in an attempt to avoid controlling precedent,” Brann wrote.
“Even assuming that they can establish that their right to vote has been denied, which they cannot, Plaintiffs seek to remedy the denial of their votes by invalidating the votes of millions of others. Rather than requesting that their votes be counted, they seek to discredit scores of other votes, but only for one race. This is simply not how the Constitution works.”
After the decision, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania congratulated Biden as the president-elect, breaking from party leaders and a vast majority of congressional Republicans who continue to back Trump’s efforts to challenge the results.
“With today’s decision by Judge Matthew Brann, a longtime conservative Republican whom I know to be a fair and unbiased jurist, to dismiss the Trump campaign’s lawsuit, President Trump has exhausted all plausible legal options to challenge the result of the presidential race in Pennsylvania,” the GOP senator said in a statement. “These developments, together with the outcomes in the rest of the nation, confirm that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and will become the 46th President of the United States.
Most congressional Republicans continue to back Trump’s efforts to challenge the results.
Trump said the decision will be appealed.
“Judge Brann, who would not even allow us to present our case or evidence, is a product of Senator Pat “No Tariffs” Toomey of Pennsylvania, no friend of mine, & Obama – No wonder. 900,000 Fraudulent Votes!,” Trump posted on Twitter. “WILL APPEAL!”
The decision in Pennsylvania is the 30th loss or withdrawal of a case from the campaign and its allies since Election Day.
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