Wisconsin's Top Court Rejects Trump Lawsuit

'The Campaign is challenging the rulebook adopted before the season began'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 14, 2020 1:09 PM CST
Trump Loses Yet Another Election Lawsuit
In this Nov. 7, 2020 photo, supporters react after it was announced that President-elect Joe Biden defeated President Trump at a rally in Milwaukee.   (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

A narrowly divided Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Trump’s lawsuit attempting to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in the battleground state, ending Trump's legal challenges in state court about an hour before the Electoral College was to meet to cast the state's 10 votes for Biden. In the 4-3 ruling, the court's three liberal justices were joined by conservative swing Justice Brian Hagedorn in ruling that three of Trump's four claims were filed too late and the other was without merit, the AP reports. The president sought to have more than 221,000 ballots disqualified in Dane and Milwaukee counties, the state's two most heavily Democratic counties. Those were the only counties where Trump sought a recount, even though he lost statewide by just short of 21,000 votes, a margin of about 0.6%.

Hagedorn said the Trump campaign was "not entitled to the relief it seeks." Hagedorn used a sports analogy, saying Trump should not have waited until his election loss was announced to raise his complaints. "Our laws allow the challenge flag to be thrown regarding various aspects of election administration," Hagedorn wrote. "The challenges raised by the Campaign in this case, however, come long after the last play or even the last game; the Campaign is challenging the rulebook adopted before the season began." The three dissenting conservative justices, led by Chief Justice Patience Roggensack, said the court should have decided whether votes should have counted in each of the four categories Trump challenged. "Trump and his allies are 1-59 in post-election litigation," tweeted attorney Marc Elias.

(More Election 2020 stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X