Judge’s ruling affirmed in election case
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Friday affirmed U.S. Middle Court Judge Matthew W. Brann ruling on the attempt by President Donald J. Trump to block ballots from being certified.
Attorneys with Donald J. Trump for President Inc., and Lawrence Roberts and David John Henry sued Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar and the board of elections of Allegheny, Centre, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Northampton and Philadelphia counties.
The circuit court judges sent a notice of their decision of affirming Brann’s judgment.
Trump lawyers said they will need to go through the state legislature since the court decision and the certified ballots showed a win for Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
Brann said the court was presented by the campaign with “strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations, unpled in the operative complaint and unsupported by evidence.”
Brann continued: “In the United States of America, this cannot justify the disenfranchisement of a single voter, let alone all the voters of its sixth most populated state.”
The circuit court’s affirmation of Brann’s judgment on Nov. 21 terminates the appeal, the judges said.
“Free, fair elections are the lifeblood off our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here,” Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote for the three-judge panel.
Jenna Ellis, a legal adviser to the Trump campaign, said the campaign would take its appeal to the Supreme Court.
The campaign recently had the opportunity to present evidence to the state legislature, she said.