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WASHINGTON – In another defeat for President Donald Trump and his allies, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously rejected a lawsuit Saturday to ban the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the state. The court reversed the decision of the lower court judge, who had ordered the temporary blocking of the confirmation of the result, which had become official last Tuesday.
The lawsuit, originally filed by Republican Rep. Mike Kelly and seven other supporters, questioned the legality of a state law passed last year, with bipartisan support, that allows all Pennsylvania voters to vote by mail. Arguing that the measure is unconstitutional, they sought to annul more than 2.5 million votes by mail, a modality with enormous support among Democrats, which would give Trump victory.
As an option to discard all mail-in ballots, the process suggested that the Republican-controlled state legislature elect the 20 delegates who will represent Pennsylvania in the Electoral College, which will meet on the 14th. The justices called the request. “extraordinary”, since it would cancel more than 6.9 million votes.
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These were the last two more than 10 ongoing federal or state processes in Pennsylvania, whose Electoral College votes were said to be essential to any chance of success for the president’s maneuvers to remain in the White House. The Republicans lost all but one stock; the most recent loss came on Friday, a process that could be stopped in the federal Supreme Court if there is an appeal.
According to the verdict this Saturday, the lawsuit was dismissed because the arguments that supported it took too long to present, since the Legislature had approved the rules for voting by mail more than a year ago.
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“There is no legal basis for the court to comply with the request to ignore the result,” said Judge David Wecht, explaining his vote. “It is not our role to legitimize such transparent and untimely efforts to subvert the desire of the people of Pennsylvania. The courts should not decide elections when the popular desire is clear.”
On the 25th, Appeals Court Judge Patricia McCullogh accepted the Republican motion, temporarily blocking the certification until a hearing was held to hear the action. The prosecution, however, appealed to the Supreme Court, leaving McCullogh’s verdict in limbo.
Trump claims to have been the victim of a fraud that benefited his opponent in key states, but there is no evidence that this is true. After weeks of preventing the transition from officially beginning, the president gave the green light for the process to begin earlier in the week.
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Biden won in Pennsylvania by a difference of 81,600 votes. According to the University of Florida’s “Elections in America” project, more than 2.5 million Americans voted by mail in the state, about 64.7 percent of them Democrats.
Biden won a total of 306 delegates, 36 more than needed to be elected. Even if Trump had achieved an unlikely legal victory in Pennsylvania, the 20 state delegates would not be enough to alter the outcome of the election. On Thursday, the president said he would leave the Oval Office if the Electoral College elects Biden.
Since the campaign, the president has orchestrated an intense campaign to delegitimize mail-order votes, given his enormous popularity with Democrats. The modality had a record adherence in this year’s elections, amid the Covid-19 pandemic and distancing guidelines.
