AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed lawsuits in four battleground states Tuesday, alleging the states “exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to justify ignoring federal and state election laws.”
Paxton, a Republican, claims the states — Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — “flooded their citizenry with tens of millions of ballot applications and ballots in derogation of statutory controls as to how they are lawfully received, evaluated, and counted.”
Paxton accuses the states of “violating statutes enacted by their duly elected legislatures, thereby violating the Constitution.” He’s asking the Supreme Court to “step in to correct this egregious error.”
In those four states, Democrat Joe Biden won the presidential election following certifications and recounts affirming original results.
In Georgia, officials have counted its presidential ballots three times, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he’ll certify the results again to reaffirm Biden’s victory in the state.
Wisconsin certified its results a week ago in favor of Biden, and the state Supreme Court recently refused to hear Trump’s lawsuit attempting to overturn his loss.
Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court threw out a lower court’s decision to stop certifying results. Biden won the state by more than 80,000 votes. Trump won Pennsylvania in 2016.
In Michigan, Biden’s victory was certified Nov. 23. Trump’s campaign has already had lawsuits thrown out regarding unfounded claims of voter fraud in the state.
Beyond the courts, Attorney General William Barr said last week that the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of fraud widespread enough to tip the election to the president.