US Supreme Court rejected Election Challenge Cases filed by Donald Trump

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On Monday, the US Supreme Court rejected a number of cases related to the November 2020 election. The cases rejected by the justices include the election challenges filed by former President Donald Trump and his allies in 5 states President Joe Biden won: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The court had previously taken no action in those cases and turned away pleas in January that the cases be fast-tracked. However, some of the justices had strong feelings about the court’s decision not to hear 2 cases from Pennsylvania that had been particularly contentious in the battleground state. The cases involved an appeal of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision requiring election officials to receive and count mailed-in ballots, that arrived up to three days after the election.

Point to be noted that 3 of the 9 justices said they would have heard the case, which would not have affected the election’s outcome. Justice Clarence Thomas called the cases an ideal opportunity to address an important question whether state lawmakers or state courts get the last word about the manner in which federal elections are carried out. He also called it befuddling and inexplicable that his colleagues were declining to weigh in. Justice Thomas wrote, “We failed to settle this dispute before the election, and thus provide clear rules. Now we again fail to provide clear rules for future elections. The decision to leave election law hidden beneath a shroud of doubt is baffling. By doing nothing, we invite further confusion and erosion of voter confidence”.

Thomas cited the expansion of mail-in voting as another reason to take the case. He said fraud is more prevalent with mail-in ballots. It is noteworthy that Pennsylvania lawmakers made changes to the state’s election laws in response to the pandemic but left in place a 3^rd November deadline to receive absentee ballots. Democrats sued, and Pennsylvania’s highest court cited the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the United States Postal Service delays in extending the deadline for mailed-in ballots to be received. Pennsylvania officials had argued that the case was moot because the state’s election results had already been certified. Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch agreed. These 3 and Justice Brett Kavanaugh had been the four justices who previously would have put the ballot deadline extension on hold.