by Dan McCaleb
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected the state of Texas’ lawsuit seeking to overturn presidential election results in four key swing states.
“The State of Texas’ motion for leave to file a bill of complaint is denied for lack of standing under Article III of the Constitution,” the nation’s highest court ruled in a decision released Friday evening. “Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections. All other pending motions are dismissed as moot.”
The decision means the Electoral College is likely to vote Monday to confirm presumptive President-elect Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States.
Eighteen Republican attorneys general filed briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Texas’ lawsuit against the states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin over their election procedures. The District of Columbia filed a brief on behalf of 22 Democratic states and territories in support of the four swing states.
The court’s ruling dismisses all related motions.
In a comment accompanying the Supreme Court’s brief ruling, Associate Justice Samuel Alito said he would accept the case but not grant other relief.
“In my view, we do not have discretion to deny the filing of a bill of complaint in a case that falls within our original jurisdiction,” Alito said. “See Arizona v. California, 589 U. S. ___ (Feb. 24, 2020) (Thomas, J., dissenting). I would therefore grant the motion to file the bill of complaint but would not grant other relief, and I express no view on any other issue.”
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas joined Alito in his comments.
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Dan McCaleb is the executive editor of The Center Square. He welcomes your comments. Contact Dan at [email protected].
