Trump counts on the courts to defeat Biden
In an almighty tussle with Biden, US President seeks to invalidate votes and block ballot counting
WILMINGTON: With the US presidential election between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden too close to call, Mr Trump has turned to the courts to try to invalidate votes in Pennsylvania and block Michigan officials from counting ballots.
Below is a list of the cases that will play out in the coming days and possibly weeks.
MICHIGAN BALLOT COUNTING FIGHT
Mr Trump's campaign said on Wednesday that it had filed a lawsuit in Michigan to stop state officials from counting ballots.
It said the case in the Michigan Court of Claims seeks to halt counting until it has an election inspector at each absentee voter counting board.
It also wanted to review ballots that were opened and counted before an inspector from its campaign was present.
PENNSYLVANIA COURT BATTLES
Republican officials on Tuesday sued election officials in Montgomery County, which borders Philadelphia, accusing them of illegally counting mail-in ballots early and giving voters who submitted defective ballots a chance to revote.
At a hearing on Wednesday, US District Judge Timothy Savage in Philadelphia appeared sceptical of their allegations and how the integrity of the election might be affected.
In a separate lawsuit, the Trump campaign asked a judge to halt ballot counting in Pennsylvania, claiming that Republicans had been unlawfully denied access to observe the process.
Republicans in Pennsylvania have also asked the US Supreme Court to review a decision from the state's highest court that allowed election officials to count mail-in ballots postmarked by election day that arrive through Friday.
On Wednesday, Mr Trump's campaign filed a motion to intervene in the case. US Supreme Court justices said last week there was not enough time to decide the merits of the case before election day but indicated they might revisit it.
GEORGIA BALLOT FIGHT
The Trump campaign on Wednesday evening filed a lawsuit in state court in Chatham County, Georgia. Unlike the Pennsylvania and Michigan actions, that lawsuit is not asking to halt ballot counting.
The campaign said it received information that late-arriving ballots were improperly mingled with valid ballots and asked a judge to enter an order making sure late-arriving ballots were separated so they would not be counted.
US POSTAL SERVICE LITIGATION
A US judge on Wednesday said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy must answer questions on why the postal service failed to complete a court-ordered sweep for undelivered ballots in a dozen states before a Tuesday deadline.
US District Judge Emmet Sullivan is overseeing a lawsuit by Vote Forward, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Latino community advocates who have been demanding the postal service deliver mail-in ballots in time. - REUTERS
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