Trump returns to court in Wisconsin in bid to overturn state election result

11 December 2020, 15:24

Donald Trump
Trump. Picture: PA

Joe Biden won the state by nearly 21,000 votes, a margin of 0.6%.

Donald Trump’s campaign is returning to a Wisconsin court to argue for the state’s election results to be overturned, with the electoral college vote just three days away and a sceptical federal judge nearing a ruling on a similar case.

Mr Trump was pushing to overturn Joe Biden’s narrow win in Wisconsin with both a state and federal lawsuit in courts there, as part of a broader lawsuit filed with the US Supreme Court by the Texas attorney general.

The president’s lawyers have pushed for swift resolution given that Biden electors in Wisconsin and across the country are to cast their votes on Monday.

Mr Trump and his allies have suffered a string of defeats in Wisconsin and across the country as they have put forward lawsuits that rely on unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud and election abuse.

Gun Laws-Biden Administration
Joe Biden won the state by nearly 21,000 votes (Susan Walsh/AP)

A Trump-appointed federal judge in Wisconsin said on Thursday that the president’s lawsuit was “incredible,” “bizarre” and “very odd”, and asking to overturn the results would be “the most remarkable ruling in the history of this court or the federal judiciary”.

US District Judge Brett Ludwig promised to issue his ruling as soon as Friday.

Meanwhile in state court, Trump lawyers were arguing for the disqualification of more than 221,000 ballots cast in Milwaukee and Dane counties.

Those are Wisconsin’s two most heavily Democratic counties and the only ones where Mr Trump sought a recount. He is not challenging any ballots cast in counties he won.

Mr Biden won the state by nearly 21,000 votes, a margin of 0.6%.

Mr Trump wants to disqualify absentee ballots cast early and in-person, saying there was not a proper written request made for the ballots; absentee ballots cast by people who claimed “indefinitely confined” status; absentee ballots collected by poll workers at Madison parks; and absentee ballots where clerks filled in missing information on ballot envelopes.

Lawyers for Democratic governor Tony Evers and the state’s bipartisan elections commission have called Mr Trump’s claims ludicrous, without evidence, filed too late and an attempt to disenfranchise the state’s 3.3 million voters.

If he loses in state court, he can seek an appeal before the conservative-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court. That court previously refused to hear his case before it went through the lower courts.

A majority of justices have also openly questioned whether disqualifying the ballots would be appropriate.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

A spokesman has denied reports the sausage dog could be banned.

The wurst news is over: Germany denies claims of sausage dog ban

Israel Palestinians Britain Aid

UN top court orders Israel to open more land crossings into Gaza

Greece Confidence Vote

Greece’s government survives no-confidence motion called over rail disaster

Israel Palestinians UN Security Council

Russia ‘abolishes’ monitoring of sanctions on North Korea with UN veto

Firefighters at the scene of a bus crash in Limpopo

Bus plunges from bridge in South Africa and erupts into flames, killing 45 and leaving child, 8, as lone survivor

Music-Green Day UN

Green Day to headline UN-backed global climate concert

Sam Bankman-Fried

FTX founder Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison for crypto fraud

France Valentino

Former Gucci designer Alessandro Michele named Valentino creative director

Russia Shooting

Russia arrests another suspect in concert hall attack that killed 143

American Easter egg

White House’s annual Easter egg roll to be attended by 40,000 people

Barbers in Paris

Proposal to ban discrimination over a person’s hair passes first legal hurdle

Mahmoud Abbas

Palestinian Authority names new government following pressure to reform

Arvind Kejriwal

Opposition leader Kejriwal locked up for further four days, court rules

Resident clears rubble from home

Russia wears down Ukrainian defences with missile and drone attacks

Pope Francis

Pope urges priests to avoid ‘clerical hypocrisy’ in Maundy Thursday speech

Wagner mercenaries

Wagner mercenaries helping to kill civilians in Mali, say human rights groups