[ad_1]
United States President Donald Trump is followed by HHS Secretary Alex Azar as he arrives to discuss prescription drug prices during an appearance in the Brady Press Conference Room at the White House in Washington , United States, November 20, 2020. REUTERS / Carlos Barria
President Donald Trump’s campaign on Sunday appealed part of a ruling that paves the way for the battleground state of Pennsylvania to certify Democratic President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the November 3 election. .
In a court docket, the campaign asked the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to review a decision by US District Judge Matthew Brann.
The campaign filed a lawsuit earlier this month, asking Brann to stop the state from certifying the results.
Brann’s ruling, issued Saturday, described the case as based on “strained legal arguments” and “speculative allegations.”
In a court docket, the Trump campaign said it was focusing its appeal on the “narrow” question of whether Brann improperly refused to allow them to amend their claim a second time.
For Trump to have any hope of overturning the election, he must reverse the outcome in Pennsylvania, which is expected to certify his election results on Monday.
Brann had denied a request from the campaign to reattach the allegations he withdrew from the case, including a claim that his due process rights were violated.
‘No authority’ to block votes
Under Pennsylvania law, the candidate who wins the popular vote in the state gets all the electoral votes in the state.
A presidential candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the election, and Biden leads the electoral vote tally by 306-232.
Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said Saturday that Brann’s swift decision would help them take the case “quickly to the United States Supreme Court.”
The lawsuit against Brann was filed on November 9 and alleged that county elections officials had inconsistently treated mail-in ballots. Some counties notified voters that they could correct minor defects, such as missing “secret envelopes,” while others did not.
Brann said in his decision that he had “no authority to remove the right to vote from even one person, much less millions of citizens.”
Brann, nominated by former President Barack Obama, is a Republican and, according to his biography, a member of the Federalist Society, a group of conservative and libertarian lawyers, law students and academics.
The Trump campaign and its supporters have filed dozens of lawsuits in six hotly contested states. The only victories of the campaign extended voting hours on Election Day at a handful of polling places in Nevada and sidelined some provisional ballots in Pennsylvania, according to court records.
Attempts to thwart election certification have failed in the courts of Georgia, Michigan and Arizona.
Read next
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer and more than 70 other titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download from 4am and share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
For comments, complaints or inquiries, please contact us.
[ad_2]
