WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — It’s clear Joe Biden being projected the next president of the United States won’t end Donald Trump’s fight to overturn the results. Trump and his team are hard at work pursuing a litigation strategy to battle the numbers.
The Trump campaign has alleged voting fraud, filed lawsuits and called for at least one state recount as it attacked the integrity of the U.S. voting system.
The filings demand better access for campaign observers to locations where ballots are being processed and counted, and raised absentee ballot concerns.
The Trump campaign filed legal challenges in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia. Trump’s campaign also announced that it would ask for a recount in Wisconsin. Campaign manager Bill Stepien cited “irregularities in several Wisconsin counties,” without providing specifics.
The flurry of court action does not appear destined to affect the election’s outcome.
Biden campaign attorney Bob Bauer called the Trump campaign’s lawsuits meritless.
“I want to emphasize that for their purposes these lawsuits don’t have to have merit. That’s not the purpose. … It is to create an opportunity for them to message falsely about what’s taking place in the electoral process,” Bauer said, accusing the Trump campaign of “continually alleging irregularities, failures of the system and fraud without any basis.”
Thanks to the team at NewsNationNow.com, here is where the lawsuits, vote recount requests stand in states as of Thursday afternoon:
Pennsylvania
The Trump campaign is seeking to intervene in a Pennsylvania case at the Supreme Court that deals with whether ballots received up to three days after the election can be counted, deputy campaign manager Justin Clark said.
On Thursday, a state appellate court ordered a Philadelphia judge to ensure that party and candidate observers can get up close to election workers processing mail-in ballots in the city. The decision came after the Trump campaign complained Tuesday that its observer could not get close enough to election workers to see the writing on the mail-in ballot envelopes, to ensure that the envelope contains a signature and an eligible voter’s name and address. Ballots without that kind of information could be challenged or disqualified.
Michigan
The lawsuits the Trump campaign filed in Michigan and Pennsylvania on Wednesday called for a temporary halt in the counting until it is given “meaningful” access in numerous locations and allowed to review ballots that already have been opened and processed.
The AP’s Michigan call for Biden came after the suit was filed.
The Michigan lawsuit claims Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, was allowing absentee ballots to be counted without teams of bipartisan observers as well as challengers.
Judge Cynthia Stephens dismissed a lawsuit Thursday afternoon. She said Benson was the wrong person to sue because she doesn’t control the logistics of local ballot counting, even if she is the state’s chief election officer.
Nevada
The Trump campaign held a news conference Thursday where it announced it plans to file a lawsuit to stop the improper counting of ballots across Nevada. The campaign said it has received reports of Clark County, Nevada counting votes from dead people as well as votes from non-county residents.
Clark County officials said Thursday that they are unaware of any improper ballots being processed. Clark County Registrar Joe Gloria said Thursday at a press conference: “Our goal here in Clark County is not to count fast. We want to make sure that we’re being accurate.”
Georgia
The Trump campaign’s lawsuit filed in Chatham County essentially asked a judge to ensure the state laws are being followed on absentee ballots. Campaign officials said they were considering peppering a dozen other counties around the state with similar suits.
Chatham County Superior Court Judge James Bass dismissed the lawsuit Thursday morning. County elections officials testified that all 53 ballots had been received on time.