US polls: Trump campaign files lawsuit in Nevada, wins first legal battle in Pennsylvania

WASHINGTON: The Trump Campaign on Thursday filed a lawsuit in the battleground State of Nevada, alleging mass level electoral malpractice.

Nevada is the fourth State where the Trump Campaign has filed a lawsuit.

US President Donald Trump, who has 214 votes so far, has filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and demanded recounting of votes in Wisconsin.

Trump in a tweet, threatened to file lawsuits in all States where his rival and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has claimed victory.

"All of the recent Biden claimed States will be legally challenged by us for Voter Fraud and State Election Fraud. Plenty of proof - just check out the Media. WE WILL WIN! America First!" Trump said in a tweet.

"We warned for the last few weeks we could end up in a situation where Nevada decides the presidency. We're asking for emergency relief. We're asking for the judge to stop the counting of improper votes," said Adam Laxalt, Nevada's former attorney general and Trumps Campaign co-chair in the state told reporters in Las Vegas.

"We warned that the Democrats changed this election system. They gave us mail-in ballots. And despite the fact that there are examples of thousands of ballots being mailed across this Valley in trash cans and apartment buildings, people getting as many as 18 ballots to their homes, we knew these, these roles were unclean," he said.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has a slender lead of 7,647 votes with 86 per cent of the votes polled being counted so far.

Nevada has six votes to the electoral college.

As per major media outlets, Biden is just six votes short of the magical figure of 270 required in the 538 electoral college votes.

"We were told that signatures would save us from all fraud, but to date, we still have not been able to observe these signatures or meaningfully challenge, a single mail in ballot, out of hundreds of thousands of casts," Laxalt said.

"We firmly believe that there are many voters in this group of mail-in people that are not proper voters. In the last many days, we have received reports of many irregularities across the Valley. We believe that there are dead voters that have been counted. We are also confident that there are thousands of people whose votes have been counted that have moved out of Clark County during the pandemic," he alleged.

"Today, we have a voter Jill Stokey who was denied access to vote. She showed up to vote and she was told someone had already cast her ballot and she was denied the opportunity to vote. We are filing in federal district court here in Las Vegas. We're asking for emergency relief, a TRO and injunctive relief. We're asking the judge to do to all of these irregularities, to stop the counting of improper votes," Laxalt said.

He alleged that polling personnel of the Trump Campaign was not being allowed to check the votes.

"It's publicly available information that non-residents have voted. There was a 30-day residency requirement in the state of Nevada," he said.

"It is unacceptable in this country to have illegal votes counted, and that is what's happening in the state of Nevada. It is giving legal people a sense that the system is corrupt. We have to have a system where legal votes are cast. We are seeing discrepancies all over," Laxalt said.

Meanwhile, Trump scored the first legal battle in the battleground state of Pennsylvania wherein an appellate judge has ordered that poll watchers must be allowed within six feet of counting of votes.

"Big legal win in Pennsylvania," Trump said in a tweet soon after the court gave the ruling.

Trump is currently leading in Pennsylvania, but his vote count has reduced considerably over the last one day.

Trump Campaign Manager Bill Stepien told reporters during a conference call that the court ruling would allow them to review the counting that has already occurred as well.

"As a result of this incredible legal victory, the lower court's order has been reversed. Now, according to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 'all candidates, watchers, or candidate representatives' shall 'be permitted to be present for the canvassing process' and 'be permitted to observe all aspects of the canvassing process within 6 feet, while adhering to all COVID-19 protocols, including, wearing masks and maintaining social distancing," said Justin Clark, the Deputy Manager of the Trump Campaign.

"In a major victory for election integrity, election transparency, all Pennsylvania voters, and the rule of law, the Trump Campaign has prevailed in our suit challenging our Republican poll watchers' complete lack of any meaningful access to the ballot processing and counting process," he said.

Earlier, the Trump Campaign had reached out to court demanding that counting of votes be halted until courts can enforce rules that permit campaign observers to watch the ballots being opened and counted.

The Trump Campaign had alleged that its poll watchers were being denied close up access to observe counting of votes.

"The eyes of the country are on Pennsylvania, but Pennsylvania Democrats, led by their radical left Secretary of State whose only goal is to steal this election from President Trump, has kept eyes off of the absentee ballot counting process. That ends now in Philadelphia," Clark alleged.

"For the good of the nation, every Pennsylvania county should follow the lead of this judge and provide access for observers to ensure transparency and integrity in Pennsylvania.

That is the only way to ensure a fair, transparent election in which all Pennsylvania voters can have confidence their vote will count," he said.

As per the latest report, with 91 per cent of the voting, Trump has garnered 50.4 per cent of the total votes counted and his Democratic rival Joe Biden has 48.3 per cent of the votes.

Trump's lead is 135,626 votes, which has dropped considerably in the last few rounds of counting.

Trump had a lead of 400,000 on Wednesday.

"The media and the insiders are in the city, they've been trying to count Donald Trump out for years," Trump Campaign Manager Bill Stepien told reporters on a conference call on Thursday.

"We will win Pennsylvania. I have as much confidence today as I had yesterday. We also won a major victory in Pennsylvania this morning that helps ensure the transparency and openness that Pennsylvania deserves is held true," he asserted.