Goodness knows how many hours of my life in late 2020 were spent reading the judgments in post-election lawsuits. Donald Trump’s legal team launched about 60 challenges, which went nowhere, and often tested the patience of even conservative, Trump-appointed judges.
There really are few things in nerd world more fun to read than a pissed off, sassy judge.
We are anticipating more lawsuits in the wake of this election – fewer, of course, if Mr Trump wins.
Which brings us to Georgia, where the litigation has already started. Judge Stan Baker, who was appointed by Mr Trump, has tossed out a lawsuit from Republicans claiming counties in the state violated the law by extending the deadline for absentee ballots to be returned. And he has done so in quite withering fashion, saying the claim “does not withstand even the most basic level of statutory review and reading comprehension”.
Judge Baker said that, if he upheld the challenge, he would “unquestionably” be depriving voters of their rights under the law.
“Even more concerning, I would only be invalidating votes from the select counties that plaintiffs have cherry-picked based on nothing more than the past political preferences of the citizens in those counties,” he said, adding that the Republican complaint was “legally and factually incorrect”.
The judge also berated the plaintiffs’ lawyers, though he decided not to impose sanctions on them.
“It’s dangerous when a non-lawyer makes claims that are factually or legally incorrect about the right to vote. But a lawyer, it’s even more dangerous,” said Judge Baker.
“That’s why we have serious repercussions for those who violate the duty of candor.”
Probably not the last angry judge we’ll be hearing from in the next few weeks.
https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/us-politics/us-election-day-live/liv...