US court denies Trump's Pennsylvania election challenge
Donald Trump
A federal appeals court on Friday rejected an attempt by US President Donald Trump's campaign to block President-elect Joe Biden from being declared the winner of Pennsylvania.
The statecertified Biden as its winner this week. Under the law, the candidate who wins the popular vote in the state gets all of the state's 20 electoral votes.
Trump, a Republican, has refused to concede to his Democratic rival and continues to claim, without evidence, widespread voter fraud.
The Trump campaign and its supporters have tried and failed to convince judges of election irregularities in Michigan, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada, all critical to Biden's victory.
"Voters, not lawyers, choose the President. Ballots, not briefs, decide elections," said the appeals court opinion to this end.
"Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so," wrote Stephanos Bibas on behalf of a three-judge panel.
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"Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here," wrote Bibas, who was nominated by Trump.
Soon after Friday's ruling, Trump posted a video from Newsmax on Twitter about alleged voter fraud in Nevada.
The Trump campaign filed the Pennsylvania case earlier this month, saying that county election officials had treated mail-in ballots inconsistently and asking US District Judge Matthew Brann to halt certification of the results.
Brann dismissed the case on November 21, saying the case was based on "strained legal arguments" and "speculative accusations."
The Trump campaign said it appealed on the “narrow” question of whether Brann improperly refused to let it amend the lawsuit a second time.
The appeals court said many of the claims by Trump campaign are matters of Pennsylvania law but noted the campaign already lost on those issues in state court.
The other judges on the panel, Brooks Smith and Michael Chagares, were nominated by George W Bush, a Republican.
Meanwhile, Trump said on Thursday he would leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for Biden when it meets on Dec. 14, the closest he has come to conceding the election.
On Monday, Trump's administration cleared the way Biden to transition to the White House, giving him access to briefings and funding even as Trump vowed to continue fighting the election results.
Biden won the election 306-232 in electoral votes, including Pennsylvania's 20. Even if Trump overturned the outcome in Pennsylvania, he would still need to reverse the result in at least two other states to remain as president.
States as states have until December 8 to resolve election disputes.