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WASHINGTON: In another setback for Donald Trump, judges in Michigan and Georgia have dismissed the demands of the president’s campaign in both battle states.
In Michigan, Claims Court Judge Cynthia Stephens issued the ruling during a court hearing Thursday. It said it planned to issue a written ruling on Friday.
“I have no basis for finding that there is a substantial probability of success based on the merits,” Stephens said.
Trump campaign officials have said they filed the lawsuit to stop the count in Michigan and gain greater access to the tabulation process.
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The lawsuit was an “exercise in messaging,” said Bob Bauer, senior advisor to Biden’s campaign.
“He has no other purpose than to confuse the public about what is happening and to support his unfounded claims of wrongdoing,” Bauer said in a call with reporters.
The Georgia case addressed concerns about 53 absentee votes in Chatham County. It was dismissed by a judge after election officials in the Savannah-area county testified that all of those ballots had been received on time.
Campaign officials previously said they were considering similar challenges in a dozen other counties in the state.
A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Georgia and Michigan rulings.
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The Trump campaign has launched a series of lawsuits across the country, including one alleging voter fraud in Nevada, one of the pivotal states where Trump narrowly follows Biden.
In Pennsylvania, the Trump campaign won an appeal ruling to bring party and campaign watchers closer to the poll workers who process mail-in ballots in Philadelphia.
But the order did not affect the vote counting that is taking place in Pennsylvania.
Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller said additional legal action was expected and that it would focus on giving campaign officials access to places where ballots were counted.
“We will literally go through each of the ballots,” he said of the recount in disputed Nevada.
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Legal experts have called the challenges a long shot that will likely not affect the final outcome of the election.
Some fellow Republicans have also expressed displeasure at Trump’s claims of voter fraud.
“The problem with filing unsubstantiated charges is that it undermines faith in democracy,” Adam Kinzinger, a Republican congressman from Michigan who was reelected Tuesday, told CNN.
