A Trump appointee batted down one of the president’s election challenges in Wisconsin on Saturday, as President Trump’s lawyers were also arguing a case before the Wisconsin Supreme Court during a Saturday session.
U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig tossed the president’s lawsuit in federal court concerning tens of thousands of absentee ballots the Trump campaign said were unlawfully cast.
The lawsuit sought to have the court find constitutional violations in how election officials conducted the November elections, and then send the dispute to the state legislature to award Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes to Mr. Trump instead of presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden.
Judge Ludwig called the case “extraordinary,” saying the president could have challenged the manner in which Wisconsin officials were handling the election before the vote — not after.
Mr. Biden won the state by about 20,682 votes, or 0.7%
The federal court decision came as Mr. Trump’s attorneys were also arguing before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, asking the justices to toss more than 220,000 ballots from the state’s two largest liberal counties.
The request came after a recount in Milwaukee and Dane counties, where the president’s attorneys say tens of thousands of voters did not have required applications for absentee ballots and also identified as “indefinitely confined” despite not meeting the state law’s requirements.
But according to The Associated Press, the justices were skeptical of the president’s case. Mr. Biden’s lawyers requested the state’s highest court rule before the Electoral College convenes Monday.
Mr. Trump’s election challenges have been hitting roadblocks in the courts, with the U.S. Supreme Court declining to hear a challenge Friday brought by Texas against Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania.
Texas claimed the four battleground states executed their elections in ways that were contrary to the laws their state legislatures had passed, and in doing so diluted Texas’ 38 electoral votes.
The justices, though, disagreed, declining to hear the matter. They said Texas lacked standing to bring the lawsuit.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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