The Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit from Republican Rep. Mike Kelly on Saturday, ending yet another attempt from the Trump campaign to disqualify votes.
Kelly’s lawsuit argued Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting law, Act 77, violated the state’s constitution and sought to invalidate millions of votes cast under its policies. The suit also requested that Pennsylvania’s Republican-held General Assembly be given permission to appoint new Electoral College electors to hand the state to President Donald Trump, despite President-elect Joe Biden defeating him by more than 80,000 votes.
The court dismissed the constitutionality argument based on the Trump team’s failure to bring the lawsuit in a “timely manner,” highlighting that Pennsylvania adopted Act 77 into law in 2019. (RELATED: Here’s How Mail-In Ballots Are Counted And Verified To Prevent Fraud)
“The want of due diligence demonstrated in this matter is unmistakable,” the court found. “Petitioners filed this facial challenge to the mail-in voting statutory provisions more than one year after the enactment of Act 77.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) (2nd L) attends a ‘Celebration of America’ event on the south lawn of the White House June 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. The event, originally intended to honor the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, was changed after the majority of the team declined to attend the event due to a disagreement with Trump over NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The court also pointed to the Trump team’s failure to bring the lawsuit soon after the election, waiting to file until November 21.
“At the time this action was filed on November 21, 2020, millions of Pennsylvania voters had already expressed their will in both the June 2020 Primary Election and the November 2020 General Election and the final ballots in the 2020 General Election were being tallied, with the results becoming seemingly apparent. Nevertheless, Petitioners waited to commence this litigation until days before the county boards of election were required to certify the election results to the Secretary of the Commonwealth,” the ruling reads.
The lawsuit was among the last remaining legal challenges from Trump and his campaign. Trump announced on Twitter that his campaign still plans to file another lawsuit in Wisconsin within a matter of days. The campaign previously filed for a partial recount in Wisconsin and is seeking to invalidate votes in the state. (RELATED: Trump Says His Campaign Will Make New Legal Challenge In Wisconsin After Recount)
While Trump has not formally conceded, he has ordered the General Services Administration to begin the transition process and has authorized the intelligence community to start sharing briefings with Biden.
