Trump’s Pennsylvania Election Suit Rejected by Appeals Court

A federal appeals court rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to revive a lawsuit in which his campaign was seeking to undo Pennsylvania’s certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state.

The decision Friday potentially tees the case up for the U.S. Supreme Court, and the president has openly mused that the 6-3 conservative majority could deliver the election to him.

But most legal experts doubt the high court will take up a case where the evidence is lacking and which won’t change the race. Biden would still win the presidency without Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, and Georgia, Michigan and Nevada have also certified results in his favor.

“Voters, not lawyers, choose the president,” the appeals court said. “Ballots, not briefs, decide elections. The ballots here are governed by Pennsylvania election law. No federal law requires poll watchers or specifies where they must live or how close they may stand when votes are counted. Nor does federal law govern whether to count ballots with minor state-law defects or let voters cure those defects.”

To contact the reporter on this story:
Erik Larson in New York at elarson4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net

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