Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government Michigan’s highest court in a 4-3 decision tossed another lawsuit that raised concerns about electoral malfeasance.
The Wednesday ruling adds to the growing number of losses from President Trump’s campaign and Republican allies who are hoping to use the judicial system to contest President-elect Joe Biden’s apparent Electoral College and popular vote victory.
The conservative legal group that filed the litigation had hoped the state’s highest court would take possession of all election-related materials such as ballots and poll books to give the legislature time to investigate allegations of fraud, audit the vote, and “finish its constitutionally-mandated work to pick Michigan’s electors,” according to the Detroit News.
Justice Elizabeth Clement, an appointee of former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, joined with three justices appointed by Democrats in rejecting the legal effort, which was filed after the state’s board of canvassers voted to certify Biden’s win in the state.
“I do not think it is an appropriate exercise of this Court’s discretion to prolong the uncertainty over the legal status of this election’s outcome,” Clement wrote in her concurring opinion. “This Court routinely chooses not to hear cases which raise interesting and unsettled legal questions in the abstract when we conclude the case would be a poor practical vehicle for addressing those questions.”
“I consider it imprudent to hear this matter, a conclusion only amplified by my view that it is irresponsible to continue holding out the possibility of a judicial solution to a political dispute that needs to be resolved with finality,” she continued.
The three justices who voted not to reject the lawsuit said they wanted to at least hear arguments in the case, according to the Associated Press.
“The case before the court is no small matter. Election disputes pose a unique test of a representative democracy’s ability to reflect the will of the people when it matters most,” said Justice David Viviano, who was also appointed by Snyder.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a Republican-led attempt to overturn Pennsylvania’s election, the highest-level rejection since the election but one of several that the campaign and its allies have faced.
Trump has refused to concede and has spread doubt about the integrity of the election despite pushback from officials in several battleground states.
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