Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton (R) petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to block four states from using their certified election results to appoint presidential electors and to require those four states’ legislatures to appoint alternative electors instead, presumably to overturn the presidential election result.
Paxton claims “non-legislative actors” took unlawful actions resulting in “significant and unconstitutional irregularities” in elections conducted in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. “The appearance of voting irregularities in the Defendant States [are] consistent with the unconstitutional relaxation of ballot-integrity protections in those States’ election laws,” Paxton argued in the motion. “These flaws cumulatively preclude knowing who legitimately won the 2020 election and threaten to cloud all future elections.”
Paxton also seeks an extension of the December 14 deadline for presidential electors to vote because permitting this process to go forward would “cement a potentially illegitimate election result in the middle of this storm.”
No credible evidence has been produced, in any of dozens of lawsuits filed to date, to support claims of widespread fraud at a magnitude required to overturn the election results. Most, if not all, of the specific allegations in Paxton’s suit have been dismissed elsewhere.
Paxton listed himself as the counsel of record. First Asst, Atty, Gen. Brent Webster and Lawrence Joseph, apparently an outside attorney, also signed the suit. Notably, Solicitor General Kyle Hawkins, who typically argues cases before the Court on the state’s behalf, is not mentioned in the suit.
“Texas is as likely to change the outcome of the Ice Bowl as it is to overturn the will of Wisconsin voters,” said Wisconsin Atty. Gen. John Kaul (D) in a statement. Jordan Fuchs, Georgia’s deputy secretary of state, said the allegations made by Paxton are “false and irresponsible.”
Michigan Atty. Gen. Dana Nessel said the suit was “not a serious legal pleading” in a statement. “The Michigan issues in this complaint have already been thoroughly litigated and roundly rejected in both stae and federal courts – by judges appointed from both political parties.” Pennsylvania Atty. Gen. Josh Shapiro (D) said the suit was “beyond meritless” in a statement.
In a statement, Paxton said the four states “have not only tainted the integrity of their own citizens’ vote, but of Texas and every other state that held lawful elections.”
“We now ask that the Supreme Court step in to correct this egregious error,” Paxton said. Responses to Paxton’s suit are due Thursday afternoon. The case has been docketed, but the Court has not made a decision as to whether it will hear the case.
This afternoon (Tuesday), the U.S Supreme Court declined to hear a different case, filed by a U.S. congressman, seeking to stop Pennsylvania’s certification of the election results. The one-sentence order (PDF) indicated no dissent and was released a few hours after a deadline for submitting briefs. This is the case for which U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R) volunteered to present oral arguments before the Court.
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