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The U.S. Supreme Court has thrown out an attempt by Texas to overturn the results of the presidential election, which Republican Donald Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden, in a further setback for the president.
The case filed Tuesday night against four key states in the November elections – Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – challenged Biden’s victory in each jurisdiction.
But the Supreme Court, made up of nine justices, including three appointed by Trump, said Texas, which voted for the president, “has not demonstrated a judicially recognizable interest in the way another state conducts its elections.”
The court’s decision “is an important reminder that we are a nation of laws, and while some may yield to the will of a single person, the courts will not,” tweeted Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
Biden’s spokesman, Mike Gwin, said the ruling “was not a surprise.”
He said: “Dozens of judges, election officials from both parties and Trump’s own Attorney General have dismissed his baseless attempts to deny that he lost the election.”
The Texas case had been viewed as bold and legally flawed, as no state has any legal right to interfere in the voting processes of another. Still, he had the backing of 106 Republican lawmakers and 17 state attorneys general.
Texas claimed that the results in the other four states were “unconstitutional” due to their heavy use of mail-order votes “prone to fraud” during the coronavirus pandemic.
It offered no evidence of significant fraud and did not contest the use of mail-in ballots in states that President Trump won.
The case cited numerous alleged examples of potential fraud already rejected by lower courts.
Still, Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, insisted the allegations were “solid.”
“They have to be evaluated, but that’s what the court is for. They can’t just dismiss it like that,” he told Fox News.
White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany told Fox that the court “dodged” and “hid behind the procedure.”
In a tweet that followed the verdict, President Trump said the court had “let us down” and accused him of having “No wisdom, no courage!”
But perhaps the most surprising reaction came from the chairman of the Texas Republican Party, who criticized the ruling and seemed to suggest the state should secede.
“Perhaps the law-abiding states should unite and form a Union of constitution-abiding states,” Allen West said in a party statement.
Trump and his allies have filed dozens of lawsuits in several key states, nearly all of which have been dismissed by the courts.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court also rejected his attempt to reverse his loss in Pennsylvania.
Trump expected the high court, whose bench leaned solidly to the right, to intervene on his behalf.
Read: Stories from the 2020 American Elections
In 2000, the Supreme Court stopped a recount in Florida, where George W Bush was just 537 votes ahead of Democrat Al Gore, allowing the Republican to win the election.
Minutes before yesterday’s ruling came, Trump launched a new TV ad again falsely claiming the election was stolen, calling it “outrage” and telling his supporters to contact their lawmakers.
The lawsuit came as all 50 states plus Washington, DC formally certified their vote counts, paving the way for convening the Electoral College.
There is no doubt that Joe Biden won the presidency, with state-by-state victories giving him 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232.
The Democrat got 51.3% of the vote compared to 46.9% for Trump, a margin of seven million votes.
The Electoral College will confirm Biden’s victory on December 14 and will be sworn in on January 20.
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