On Sunday (Dec. 20), the Trump (Trump) legal team filed a lawsuit in the federal Supreme Court to overturn the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s ruling in several cases in which the state changed its mail-in ballot law around the time of the election. This is the first time the Trump team has filed an independent petition in the Supreme Court.
The Trump campaign filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on Sunday, seeking to overturn three cases decided by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, said Rudy Giuliani, head of the Trump legal team, in a statement titled “Trump Campaign (Team) Wages Constitutional Battle in Supreme Court.
The cases allege that Pennsylvania illegally changed the state’s vote-by-mail law around the time of the 2020 presidential election, in violation of Article II of the U.S. Constitution and Bush v. Gore, the statement reads.
This is the first time the Trump campaign has independently filed a complaint with the U.S. Supreme Court and sought legal relief based on the same constitutional arguments successfully raised in Bush v. Gore.
In the statement, Giuliani also cited “a related Pennsylvania case” in which Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and two other justices monitored the constitutionality of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to extend the legal (mail-in) ballot receipt deadline from 8 p.m. on Election Day to 5 p.m. three days after Election Day.
The statement said the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision likely violates the federal constitution.
Trump team asks Supreme Court to overturn Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling
In a statement Sunday, Giuliani said the campaign’s petition to the Supreme Court seeks to overturn three decisions that removed the Pennsylvania legislature’s protections against vote-by-mail fraud. These include (a) prohibiting election officials from checking the authenticity of signatures on mail-in ballots during Election Day ballot inspections; (b) abrogating the campaign’s right to challenge mail-in ballots for forged signatures and other irregularities during inspections; and (c) holding that the campaign’s right to inspect mail-in ballot inspections means they can only do so “in the room” (for ) – in this case, the Philadelphia Convention Center, which is the size of several soccer fields; and (d) eliminated the statutory requirement that voters properly sign, address and date their mail-in ballots.
In the statement, Giuliani also said the complaint seeks all appropriate remedies, including revoking the appointment of the electors who voted for Joe Biden and allowing the Pennsylvania State Legislature to choose their replacement electors.
In the statement, the campaign also offered to expedite the process and provide a response by Dec. 24. So that the U.S. Supreme Court can rule before Congress meets in joint session to certify the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6.
Former federal general counsel: Pennsylvania pre-election change in election law illegal
On December 16, the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held its first hearing to review “irregularities” in the 2020 presidential election The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held its first hearing to examine “irregularities” in the 2020 presidential election. Former Commonwealth Attorney General Ken Starr testified that Pennsylvania violated the law by making final changes to its election laws before the election.
Starr also cited the Supreme Court’s 2000 decision in Bush v. Gore. “‘Bush v. Gore’ supports the (basic) proposition” that the United States “cannot change its election laws after the fact.
In Bush v. Gore in 2000, the Supreme Court voted 7-2 that the Florida Supreme Court’s decision to require a statewide vote count violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
Pennsylvania Act 77 is under scrutiny by the state’s Republican state legislators, who claim in the lawsuit that the act violates the state constitution. Act 77, which was signed into law by Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor Tom Wolf on October 31, 2019, provides unconditional access to vote by mail to all Pennsylvanians. However, Act 77 was enacted without the proper legislative process.
In early November, Starr noted that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s ruling allowing the Board of Elections to count mail-in ballots mailed after Election Day, provided they are received up to three days later, was “unconstitutional.
Starr said at the time that what had happened in Pennsylvania in recent weeks was constitutionally bizarre. Governor Wolf tried to get his proposed reforms and ideas through the Pennsylvania legislature, and he failed. Then he went to the state Supreme Court, which voted to accept what Gov. Wolf had done.
Alito issued a temporary order on Nov. 6 requiring Pennsylvania to separate ballots received after 8 p.m. on Election Day, and if counted, they should be listed separately.
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