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MADISON, Wisconsin: President Donald Trump lost a lawsuit in Wisconsin on Friday (December 11) seeking to disqualify more than 221,000 ballots and overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the battlefield state, the latest in a series of legal defeats.
Reserve Judge Stephen Simanek ruled against all the arguments Trump made on challenging ballots in the state’s two largest counties, saying the elections were properly administered and there were no irregularities as alleged by the president.
“The bottom line here is that the court must do everything possible to ensure that the will of the voters prevails,” the judge said.
Trump planned to quickly appeal the ruling to the conservative-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court, though his chances there appear slim. Trump also has a federal lawsuit in Wisconsin where the judge could rule on Friday.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court court previously refused to hear Trump’s state case before it went through lower courts. Most of the justices have also openly questioned whether it would be appropriate to disqualify the ballots, as Trump wants.
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Trump has urged lower court judges to quickly rule on cases so he can file appeals before the Electoral College meets Monday and casts Wisconsin’s 10 votes in favor of Biden. That created the possibility of a rare weekend ruling from the state Supreme Court.
Biden won Wisconsin by about 20,600 votes, a 0.6 percent margin that withstood a recount requested by Trump in the state’s two largest counties, Milwaukee and Dane. Trump did not contest the votes cast in the counties he won.
Trump wanted to disqualify absentee ballots cast early and in person, saying a proper written request for ballots was not made; absentee votes cast by persons who claimed “indefinitely confined” status; absentee ballots collected by poll workers in Madison parks; and absentee ballots where the clerks filled in the missing information on the ballot envelopes.
Trump’s attorney, Jim Troupis, argued that Milwaukee and Dane county employees erred in relying on the Wisconsin Elections Commission’s guidance on absentee ballots. He argued that the guidance, some of which had been in place for years or were modified in reaction to the coronavirus pandemic to make it easier for people confined indefinitely to cast their votes, contradicted state law.
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Biden’s attorney, John Devaney, argued that everyone who voted in the presidential election did so “in full compliance with the laws that were in effect at the time of the election.” There is no evidence of fraud or illegal activity, he said. Devaney also said that Trump “cynically” targeted ballots cast in Wisconsin’s two most urban non-white counties for disqualification.
Devaney noted that no one challenged the laws in effect prior to this election, including Trump when he won the state in 2016.
The judge agreed with Biden’s attorneys that Wisconsin law was followed during the election and recount.
Trump and his allies have suffered a series of defeats in Wisconsin and across the country in lawsuits that are based on unsubstantiated allegations of widespread fraud and election abuse. A Trump-appointed federal judge in Wisconsin said Thursday that the president’s lawsuit was “unbelievable,” “strange” and “very strange,” and that overturning the results would be “the most remarkable ruling in the history of this court or of power. federal court “. . “
Federal District Judge Brett Ludwig promised to issue his ruling on Friday.
Also Friday, Republican-controlled committees in the state legislature held an invitation-only public hearing to accept testimony about the elections. Republicans asked primarily conservative supporters to speak, including a Milwaukee radio host, but not the top state election official or the chief of elections in the city or county of Milwaukee. Democrats condemned the hearing as a sham.
