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The Supreme Court refused to find in favor of overturning the 2020 Presidential Election on December 8. Their apparently unanimous ruling was announced just 5:00 p.m. ET, in time for the states to certify their electors by midnight — the Safe Harbor deadline.
Typically, Supreme Court rulings are lengthy, but for this case, the justices wrote one sentence:
The application for injunctive relief presented to Justice [Samuel] Alito and by him referred to the Court is denied.
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Penn.) brought the case after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected the plea to invalidate the election. Their argument claimed their state’s Act 77 was invalid since it was not properly legislated.
On November 28, five of the seven Supreme Court justices agreed the case against the mail-in ballots was brought a year too late.
President Trump has sought to reverse the results of the election, which was called a month ago. By majority, each case brought before a judge was dismissed for lack of evidence.
The president continues to speak out against the election results. He has come up with a myriad of reasons, from dead people voting to a data dump that occurred near 3 a.m. ET on November 5.
Throughout the campaign, Trump insisted the only way he would lose the election is through voter-fraud. He sued states against the changes made to accommodate voters during the COVID-19 pandemic — before and after the election — to no avail.
At every opportunity, he railed against mail-in ballots. In a passive-aggressive move, he appointed a new Post Master General who made massive changes to the postal system seemingly at the behest of Trump — from dismantling automated sorting machines to removing mailboxes off of city corners.
After Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg passed away on September 18, Trump announced his nominee to replace her before she was put to rest. This move was disputed by the Democrats, who felt it inappropriate for a new Supreme Court Justice to be confirmed by the Senate while he was still a candidate.
It was hypocritical of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to approve a nominee after he refused to confirm Supreme Court appointee Merrick Garland in 2016 — former President Barack Obama’s final year in office.
On October 27 — eight days before the election — Amy Coney Barrett was sworn in as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. Many speculated he preemptively planned to legislate against the campaign results all the way to the highest court in the country. Trump seems to believe that the Republican-dominated court — three of whom were his appointees — would find in his favor.
Earlier today, December 8, Trump spoke about overturning the election, saying he hoped that legislatures, legislators, and the Supreme Court would see his claims were valid.
Voters choose who represents them — not judges. They chose President-elect Biden, who “is projected to win 306 votes in the Electoral College, 36 more than the 270 he needed for victory,” according to NBC News.
On December 14, the Electoral College will meet to count and certify the votes. Then on Jan. 6, 2021, Congress validates the results.
Written by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
CNN: Live
NBC News: Supreme Court rejects Trump ally’s push to overturn Biden win in Pennsylvania
Featured Image Courtesy of Christina B. Castro’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Matt Johnson’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
