US President Donald Trump's hopes of overturning the results of the 2020 election have been dealt another blow after a lawsuit in Nevada was thrown out.
Trump and his allies have now lost at least 30 post-election lawsuits. By some counts the lose-to-win ratio is as high as 41-1.
In the latest blow for Trump, a Nevada state court on Friday (local time) rejected his campaign's lawsuit seeking to block the state's election results.
President-election Joe Biden won the state's six electoral college votes by 703,486 to 669,890 votes.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.Read More
- US election: Donald Trump campaign witness Melissa Carone the star of fraud hearing - NZ Herald
- US election: Did Rudy Giuliani fart at Michigan election fraud hearing? - NZ Herald
- US election: Wisconsin governor calls Trump lawsuit an 'assault' - NZ Herald
- Donald Trump posts speech on Facebook repeating US election misinformation - NZ Herald
Judge James Russell was scathing of the unprecedented request to either block certification of the state's election results or award the electoral college votes to Trump.
He stated there had been no evidence presented to support the campaign's claims of voter fraud.
/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/NKQRI4SRT6V2VITF7E2A75O36U.jpg)
"Contestants did not prove under any standard of proof that any illegal votes were cast and counted, or legal votes were not counted at all, for any other improper or illegal reason, nor in an amount equal to or greater than 33,596, or otherwise in an amount sufficient to raise reasonable doubt as to the outcome of the election," Judge Russell wrote.
"Reasonable doubt is one based on reason, not mere possibility."
He said much of the evidence was based on hearsay and served little or no evidentiary value.
The phrase "did not prove under any standard of proof" was repeated 25 times in Judge Russell's ruling.
The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning the judgement is final and not subject to further action.
Michigan appeal rejected
Also today, the Michigan Court of Appeals rejected an appeal from the Trump campaign that attempted to stop ballot counting, calling the effort moot.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.The court stated that lawyers had not followed proper procedure when filing the suit.
Arizona: Thanks for coming, goodbye
As Trump's legal losses continue to mount, Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers dealt another blow to the President's hopes in the Grand Canyon State.
Trump's legal team — Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis — have been making their case for Biden's win in Arizona to be overturned. They held an unofficial public gathering on Tuesday and met with Republican leaders in closed-door meeting.
/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/NUXWCQGCOMDFWNL4GMVFUR5WJ4.jpg)
Bowers said the Arizona Legislature was unable to do what was being asked — to overturn the certified results.
"Under current Arizona law, the presidential electors who were elected on November 3 must, after the canvass is completed, vote for the winners of the popular vote," he said in a statement.
"I voted for President Trump and worked hard to re-elect him. But I cannot and will not entertain a suggestion that we violate current law to change the outcome of a certified election."
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.Biden's victories in Arizona and Wisconsin were certified on Monday.
The last Democrat to carry Arizona was Bill Clinton in 1996, marking a significant shift of the US electoral map this year.
Biden beat Trump by just over 10,400 ballots in Arizona, where turnout was high, and shifting demographics saw a growing population of young Hispanic voters.
One last push in Pennsylvania
Meanwhile, allies of Trump sought an emergency order from the US Supreme Court on Thursday to block the certification of election results in Pennsylvania, a key state won by Biden.
Trump appointed three conservatives to the nine-member US Supreme Court during his presidency and said right after the November election he was prepared to go all the way to that tribunal to defend what he called his re-election victory.
The move follows the Pennsylvania state Supreme Court's rejection of a lawsuit challenging expanded mail-in voting in the key northeastern state.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.The President is hoping that Pennsylvania's GOP-controlled legislature will overturn the state's election results.
Trump is still refusing to concede defeat in the November 3 election, alleging without evidence that there was widespread fraud in both voting and vote counting, and that the election was stolen from him.
On Tuesday, Attorney-General William Barr, a close ally of the president, broke with Trump and said there was no evidence of significant fraud to invalidate Biden's win.
