Trump's on a really bad losing streak in the courts

Donald Trump and his allies are failing in their efforts to use the court system to undo President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

Multiple lawsuits have been dismissed by judges because lawyers for the Trump campaign and other GOP groups could not provide any evidence that there was anything untoward in the way ballots were cast and counted.

What’s more, Republicans seeking to keep Trump in office — despite the fact that a majority of voters rejected him — have begun to voluntarily dismiss their own lawsuits aimed at stopping certification of the results. Those lawsuits appeared to be part of an effort to block the Electoral College from voting to officially make Biden the victor.

In all, not a single vote has been overturned as a result of the lawsuits, according to the Washington Post, a dismal record that makes Trump’s effort to overturn the will of the voters look less and less likely to succeed.

Here are the cases Trump and his Republican allies have lost so far in their efforts to steal the election, beginning with the most recent.

Nov. 16: Republicans voluntarily drop four cases

Voters filed lawsuits in the four critical states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin alleging that local election officials included “illegal Presidential Elector results” in heavily Democratic counties. The lawsuits had demanded that judges exclude results from those counties “in the certification activities for Presidential Electors.”

The lawsuits included provably false allegations that poll watchers were not allowed to witness ballot counting. They also contained unfounded charges of voter fraud.

On Monday, the lawyers in all four of those those cases voluntarily dropped the suits, according to Marc Elias, a lawyer working for the Biden campaign.

Nov. 13: Trump and his allies lose or voluntarily dismiss nine cases

Last Friday was one of the worst days for Trump and his GOP allies’ efforts to overturn the results of the election, with nine lawsuits either dismissed by judges or voluntarily dropped by Trump lawyers.

In Pennsylvania, a pair of judges dismissed six cases the Trump campaign filed seeking to throw out nearly 9,000 absentee ballots in the state, alleging that the ballots were missing names, dates, or addresses, CNN reported.

The judges ruled that all 8,329 ballots the Trump campaign challenged would be counted, with Richard Haaz, a judge with the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, writing: “Voters should not be disenfranchised by reasonably relying upon voting instructions provided by election officials.”

Even if the Trump campaign had been successful in throwing out those ballots, it would not have been enough to overturn the results in the state. Biden currently leads in Pennsylvania by 67,653 votes.

And a federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of voters as well as a GOP candidate in Pennsylvania over the counting of ballots that were received after Election Day, ruling that they did not have standing to file the suit.

In Arizona, Trump, the Republican National Committee, and the Arizona Republican Party dropped a case alleging votes had been incorrectly rejected after Biden’s lead in the state was accepted as too large to be overcome even if the ruling in the case had been in the plaintiffs’ favor.

A state judge in Michigan dismissed a case filed by two GOP poll watchers who made baseless allegations of fraud in an effort to block certification of the votes in the heavily Democratic city of Detroit. In his ruling, Judge Timothy Kenny said: “Plaintiffs’ interpretation of events is incorrect and not credible.”

Nov. 10: Trump drops appeal in Nevada

The Trump campaign sought to block election officials from processing and counting ballots in heavily Democratic Clark County, Nevada, until Trump poll watchers could observe the process.

The campaign voluntarily dismissed its appeal of a ruling in the case, claiming the campaign had reached a settlement with local election officials to have more people observe the count.

Trump is currently losing in Nevada by 33,596 votes.

Nov. 7: Right-wing activists in Arizona drop baseless ‘Sharpiegate’ lawsuit

Right-wing activists in Arizona filed a lawsuit alleging Trump supporters’ ballots in the state were thrown out because they used Sharpie pens to fill them in.

The allegation was not true; Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said the false allegation was an effort “floated by those seeking to undermine our democratic process for political gain.”

The plaintiffs who falsely alleged their ballots were not counted due to use of Sharpie pens ultimately voluntarily dismissed the claims in the suit.

Nov. 6: Judge dismisses case in Michigan

The Election Integrity Fund, a right-wing group, filed a lawsuit in Michigan seeking to stop vote counting in the heavily Democratic city of Detroit, alleging fraud.

A judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying the group “offered no evidence to support their assertions.”

Nov. 5: Judge dismisses Trump lawsuit to throw out ballots in Georgia

The Trump campaign and the Georgia Republican Party filed a lawsuit in heavily Democratic Chatham County seeking to stop ballot counting, alleging that 53 votes had been illegally counted.

On Nov. 5, a judge dismissed the suit, ruling that the plaintiffs had not provided any evidence to support their claims.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.