The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an attempt to overturn election results in four swing states supported by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, Gov. Jim Justice, Secretary of State Mac Warner and U.S. Representatives Alex Mooney and Carol Miller.
A Friday evening order by the court said the lawsuit was dismissed “for lack of standing under Article III” of the Constitution.”
The lawsuit filed by the Texas attorney general sought to invalidate election results in Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Elections in each of those states tipped to Democrat Joe Biden, who holds a 306-232 advantage in electors.
President Trump has viewed the lawsuit and a Supreme Court ruling as a path to retain the White House, referring to the case as “the big one.” He has tweeted repeatedly about the challenge, including just a few hours before the Supreme Court’s order was released.
If the Supreme Court shows great Wisdom and Courage, the American People will win perhaps the most important case in history, and our Electoral Process will be respected again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2020
Such a lawsuit asking for that many votes to be invalidated is unprecedented and follows on the heels of dozens of court losses by Trump supporters.
The Texas challenge contended the four states approved changes to the electoral process, during the coronavirus pandemic, without legislative approval.
The lawsuit asked the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent the four states from appointing presidential electors to the Electoral College. That would have invalidated millions of votes.
Texas — and other states that signed on — claimed their own votes were diluted by the electoral process in the four swing states.
Justices disagreed and wrote, “Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections.”
No dissents were filed. Justice Samuel Alito, along with Justice Clarence Thomas, wrote that the court does not have the discretion to deny the filing of a complaint that falls within the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction. Alito said he would grant the motion to file “but would not grant other relief, and I express no view on any other issue.”
In a very brief order, the court says Texas lacks Article III standing to sue other states over how they conduct their own elections. In layperson's words: a state has no valid interest, under the Constitution, in attempting to police other states' voting procedures. pic.twitter.com/o2TRRN2PmM
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) December 11, 2020
Morrisey this week signed West Virginia onto a friend-of-the-court brief, essentially expressing support for the Texas effort. Justice and Warner said they support the move. All are Republicans.
Justice said he received a call from Trump about the matter. Warner, West Virginia’s chief elections officer, spoke at a Trump rally hours after certifying West Virginia’s election and held up a “Stop the Steal” sign for a right-wing broadcast network.
“Many Americans and West Virginians have seen their confidence in the electoral system undermined as they watch one report after another outlining the many, many problems with the 2020 elections. That must change,” Morrisey stated Wednesday.
HOPPY KERCHEVAL: Morrisey misfires by joining Texas AG’s attempt to overturn election
Many of the changes the other states made to their electoral process were in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Texas lawsuit contended those changes should have been approved by state legislatures and that questions surrounding the resulting process got so entangled that the certified results should not dictate electors to the Electoral College.
“That dilutes the vote in the rest of the states,” Warner said this week on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
West Virginia, which Trump won handily last month, also made voting allowances for the coronavirus pandemic.
West Virginia delayed its Primary Election by a month and allowed any voter registered in the state to vote by absentee ballot because of the pandemic. West Virginia absentee ballots had to be postmarked by election day and could be counted up until canvassing, which was six days later.
West Virginia’s General Election retained the expansion of who could request an absentee ballot.
Morrisey signed off on loosening some West Virginia voting procedures when the pandemic first hit last spring. He cited the governor’s emergency powers in state code, allowing Warner to institute those changes. But there was no specific West Virginia legislative vote on the changes themselves.
Mooney and Miller signed onto a separate friend-of-the-court brief with 106 Republican members of Congress.
“This brief,” they wrote, “presents [our] concern as Members of Congress, shared by untold millions of their constituents, that the unconstitutional irregularities involved in the 2020 presidential election cast doubt upon its outcome and the integrity of the American system of elections.”
Congressman David McKinley, a Republican who represents West Virginia’s 1st Congressional District, did not sign on.
Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., released a statement near the end of November that election results from around the country show Biden as the president-elect. She said she would respect the certified results.
“I have been clear that President Trump — like any candidate for office—has the right to request recounts and to raise legal claims before our courts. However, at some point, the 2020 election must end,” Capito said then.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr, usually a stalwart ally of the president, said earlier this month the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the election’s outcome.