Game over for Donald Trump as US Supreme Court throws out final major election case
12 December 2020, 01:01 | Updated: 12 December 2020, 10:45
Donald Trump has failed to convince the Supreme Court to overturn the US election result in several states as it issued its final dismissal on Friday.
The decision ends the attempt by the president's lawyers to get legal issues, which were rejected by state and federal judges, before the nation's highest court.
Mr Trump had called the lawsuit filed by Texas against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin "the big one" that would end with the Supreme Court undoing Mr Biden's substantial majority and allow him to serve another four years in the White House.
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But the justices turned away the lawsuit in just one sentence, saying Texas does not have the right to sue other states because it "has not demonstrated a judicially cognisable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections".
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, who have said previously the court does not have the authority to turn away lawsuits between states, said they would have heard Texas's complaint.
But they would not have done as Texas wanted pending resolution of the lawsuit, and set aside those four states' 62 electoral votes for Mr Biden.
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Eighteen other states won by the Republican in last month's election, 126 Republican members of Congress and Mr Trump himself joined Texas in calling on the justices to take up the case that sought to stop electors from casting their votes for Mr Biden.
The four states sued by Texas had urged the court to reject the case as meritless - backed by another 22 states and the District of Columbia.
Three Trump appointees sit on the high court and all took part in proceedings this week - including the most recent of his nominees Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
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She appears not to have noted a dissent in either case and joined the others in resoundingly rejecting the lawsuit.
Confirmed quickly and controversially just one week before the election, Mr Trump said Justice Barrett would be needed for any post-election lawsuits.
The Electoral College will meet on Monday to confirm that Joe Biden will be elected the next president of the Unites States.
