On Tuesday, the Supreme Court put a Texas election fraud lawsuit filed by Attorney General Ken Paxton on its docket. The 154-page complaint accuses four states—the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, and Wisconsin—of using the pandemic as an excuse to ignore and violate the Constitution regarding election law in those states. "In each state, the secretaries of state or, in the case of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Election Commission and other state officials, circumvented the state legislatures and abrogated state statutes, instituting illegal, rushed changes in election procedures because of the pandemic."
Alleged fraud associated with mass mail-in voting and absentee ballots are centerpieces in the case. Never before has the U.S. adopted mass mail-in ballots on such a large scale. Numerous risks for errors and fraudulent activity are associated with: the lack of signature verification; unsecured ballot drop-off locations; lack of witness requirements; failure to purge dirty voter rolls; and lack of meaningful and fairly represented poll watchers.
The case is well written and could be an important step toward a remedy for the alleged fraud in the 2020 election. It is the first case to be directly sent to the Supreme Court. Its importance lies in its potential to circumvent the delays seen at the state level but, more important, it begins to officially recognize the dilution of vote experienced by states like Texas due to the alleged fraudulent behavior of the named states.
Attorney Steve King lll, General Counsel of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania and Special Counsel to the Thomas More Society, said on Steve Bannon's War Room on Wednesday morning (timestamp 12:25) that he expects more states and some of the legislatures to join the case.
So far 17 states have joined as Amici Curiae in the Texas complaint. Led by Missouri AG Eric Schmitt (R) who says he is "in the fight," 16 others have joined: AG Leslie Rutledge (R) of Arkansas; Alabama AG, Steve Marshall (R); Louisiana AG, Jeff Landry (R); Arkansas AG, Leslie Rutledge (R); No. Dakota AG, Wayne Stenehjem (R); Florida AG, Ashley Moody (R); Oklahoma AG, Mike Hunter (R); Indiana AG, Curtis T. Hill (R) Jr.; So. Carolina AG, Alan Wilson (R); Kansas AG, Derek Schmidt (R); So. Dakota AG, Jason R. Ravnsborg (R); Tennessee AG, Herbert H. Slatery III (R); Mississippi AG, Lynn Fitch (R); Utah AG, Sean D. Reyes (R); Montana AG, Tim Fox (R); and W. Virginia AG, Patrick Morrisey (R).
President Trump has also joined the lawsuit in his "personal capacity as a candidate for re-election." He seeks to vacate the votes of the electors in the four states, enlists the legislatures to resolve the results in a Constitutional manner, and requests that the states either appoint new electors or "appoint no electors at all."
Michigan Attorney General, Dana Nessel (D) issued a statement on Tuesday, saying the motion filed by AG Paxton was "a publicity stunt, not a serious legal pleading." Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) said he feels sorry for Texans whose "tax dollars are being wasted on such a genuinely embarrassing lawsuit." Georgia Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs called the allegations in Paxton's suit "false and irresponsible."
The Supreme Court gave until 3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10 for a response from the four Defendant States.
