The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a case filed by allies of U.S. President Donald Trump seeking to overturn the results of the vote in Pennsylvania, which Democratic candidate Joe Biden had won by some 81,000 votes.
The case, filed by U.S. Congressman and Trump ally Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania and Republican lawmakers from the State, argued that a 2019 state law which expanded vote-by-mail was unconstitutional because it was not enacted with a constitutional amendment.
The Supreme Court’s one sentence rejection of injunctive relief for the plaintiffs did not note any dissents.
“The application for injunctive relief presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the Court is denied,” the Supreme Court order read.
Mr. Trump, who has made numerous unsubstantiated claims on widespread electoral fraud, has been banking on the conservative-heavy Supreme Court, hoping that the three judges he put on the bench, including Amy Coney Barrett who was appointed days before the election, would come through for him.
The court’s decision came on a day when the election’s ‘safe harbor’ deadline was reached – a date by when State’s have the option of securing (from Congressional scrutiny) the results of the vote, having settled all election disputes.
The U.S. Congress will meet on January 6 to officially count the 538 Electoral College Votes. Mr. Biden has 306 votes while Mr Trump has 232 votes; 270 votes are needed to win the election.
Texas Brings Case to SCOTUS
The State of Texas brought a lawsuit on Tuesday to the Supreme Court asking for the vote in four key battleground states won by Mr. Biden to be overturned, arguing that the states had unlawfully expanded mail-in voting due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The case, announced by the State’s Republican Attorney General, asks that the court block Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin from using the results of the election to appoint electors to the Electoral College, which votes on December 14 to formally confirm the next President of the United States. Texas has also asked for this date to be pushed back.