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WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s campaign on Monday asked a federal appeals court to rekindle a challenge to Pennsylvania’s election results, saying officials should be prevented from declaring President-elect Joe Biden the state winner. .
The campaign said a lower court judge was wrong to dismiss the case outright, rather than reviewing additional allegations that the campaign had removed from the case but wanted to restore.
He said he never got a chance to litigate his “serious and well-founded claims” that Democratic officials planned to secure Biden’s victory by potentially counting tens of thousands of defective mail ballots.
Pennsylvania counties faced a deadline Monday to deliver election results to the state’s top election official for certification, though some were expected to miss the target.
Under Pennsylvania law, the candidate who wins the popular vote in the state receives all 20 Electoral College votes. The former Democratic vice president received 81,000 more votes in Pennsylvania than Trump, a Republican.
The campaign appeals part of a decision by the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
The lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign had alleged inconsistent treatment by county election officials of mail-in ballots.
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United States District Judge Matthew Brann said in his ruling Saturday that the case was based on “strained legal arguments” and that he had “no authority to remove the right to vote from a single person, let alone a single person. millions of citizens “.
Brann also denied the campaign’s request to add claims to his lawsuit, including an allegation that his due process rights were violated.
The Trump campaign appeal focuses on the narrow question of whether Brann improperly refused to allow them to amend their lawsuit a second time.
The Pennsylvania secretary of state has until Tuesday afternoon to respond. If the campaign loses its appeal, it could ask the United States Supreme Court to review the case.
