The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a bid by Pennsylvania Republicans to nullify President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenTrump Jr. cuts ad for Loeffler, Perdue in Georgia Biden to tap Vilsack for Agriculture secretary: reports Georgia elections official: Trump should ‘act more responsibly’ MORE‘s victory in the Keystone State, dealing another blow to the long-shot legal effort by President TrumpDonald TrumpTrump taps Conway, Chao to government posts in waning days of administration Pelosi, Schumer hit Trump but cite ‘progress’ in COVID relief talks House GOP leader trolls Democrats over reduced majority MORE and his allies to overturn the election in the courts.
The Tuesday order, which was unsigned and included no noted dissents, came ahead of the midnight “safe harbor” deadline, which provides states a kind of immunity from congressional oversight into election results that are certified in time.
The justices’ move leaves intact Pennsylvania Gov. Tom WolfTom WolfSupreme Court rejects GOP bid to nullify Biden win in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Supreme Court refuses to halt GOP defeat in election lawsuit Pennsylvania Supreme Court strikes down GOP bid to stop election certification MORE’s (D) late November certification of Biden’s victory in a state he won by more than 81,000 votes.
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It also represents the latest in a lengthy string of defeats for Trump and his allies amid their increasingly implausible legal campaign, which is largely premised on unsupported claims that the election results are invalid due to widespread fraud.
Among the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court petition were Trump ally Rep. Mike KellyGeorge (Mike) Joseph KellySupreme Court rejects GOP bid to nullify Biden win in Pennsylvania Cruz offers to argue Pennsylvania election case before Supreme Court Pennsylvania Supreme Court refuses to halt GOP defeat in election lawsuit MORE (R-Pa.).
The challengers’ original complaint, filed in Pennsylvania state court late last month, sought to strike down an expanded mail-in ballot policy that Pennsylvania put in place in 2019 after it was passed by the state’s GOP-held legislature.
Biden won three of every four mail-in ballots cast in the state, according to an analysis of Pennsylvania Department of State data by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed the case late last month, citing the litigants’ undue delay in bringing the challenge, prompting the petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Attorneys for Kelly and the other Pennsylvania Republicans argued that the top state court had violated their due process rights and other constitutional guarantees.
Lawyers representing the state of Pennsylvania countered that the lawsuit was meritless and cautioned the justices against granting relief.
“No court has ever issued an order nullifying a governor’s certification of presidential election results,” they argued in a brief. “The loss of public trust in our constitutional order resulting in this kind of judicial power would be incalculable.”
The emergency application was addressed to Justice Samuel AlitoSamuel AlitoSupreme Court rejects GOP bid to nullify Biden win in Pennsylvania Supreme Court weighs property theft claims by Holocaust victims Conservative justices seem prepared to let Trump proceed with immigrant census plan for now MORE, who handles emergency petitions from Pennsylvania and the surrounding region. Alito could have acted on the request alone, but instead referred the matter to the full court. The court’s denial means that fewer than five justices supported the GOP bid.
The court’s denial came just hours after Trump expressed hope that the Supreme Court would embrace his dubious claims of having won the election.
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“Let’s see whether or not somebody has the courage, whether it’s a legislator or legislatures, or whether it’s a justice of the Supreme Court or a number of justices of the Supreme Court,” Trump said during a coronavirus vaccine summit. “Let’s see if they have the courage to do what everybody in this country knows is right.”
Earlier Tuesday the state of Texas filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court against four battleground states in an effort to overturn Biden’s win.
Election law experts who predicted Kelly’s case would be dismissed by the court offered a similar prognostication in the Texas lawsuit.
“I may need to take back what I said about Rep. Kelly’s [Pennsylvania] suit being the dumbest case I’ve ever seen filed on an emergency basis at the Supreme Court,” Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California Irvine, wrote on the Election Law Blog. “This new one from the indicted Texas AG Ken Paxton probably should win that prize.”
–Updated 5:46 p.m.