Wisconsin governor calls Trump trial ‘assault’



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MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) – President Donald Trump’s attempt to overrule Wisconsin’s election results by throwing ballots only from the state’s two most democratic counties is an “attack on democracy,” they said lawyers for Democratic Governor Tony Evers said in documents filed with the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Filings, made Tuesday night, come as state’s highest court assesses Trump’s claim to disqualify more than 221,000 ballots in Milwaukee and Dane counties. Democrat Joe Biden beat Trump by a 2-1 margin in those counties en route to a statewide victory of 20,682.

Trump is not disputing any polls in the state’s other 70 counties, the majority of which won. Trump’s legal challenges in other states to overturn election results have failed.

In Wisconsin, Trump wants to ignore lower courts, claiming in his lawsuit he doesn’t have time to go through the normal process due to the looming December 14 date when voters will meet to vote the college’s 10 votes. electoral state.

The state Supreme Court could dismiss Trump’s request to hear the case, forcing her to lower courts, which would likely kill her. Or he could accept the case and make a decision later. It could also simply make a decision based on written arguments, although this is unusual.

Evers lawyers, along with State Department of Justice attorneys representing the Wisconsin Election Commission, urged the court not to accept the original jurisdiction of the case, saying it must begin in court. lower.

“President Trump’s trial seeks nothing less than to overthrow the will of nearly 3.3 million Wisconsin voters,” Evers lawyers said. “It is a shocking and scandalous attack on our democracy. … He’s just trying to grab Wisconsin electoral votes even though he lost the national election.

Trump’s lawsuit repeats many claims he made during a vote recount in Milwaukee and Dane counties. He seeks to disqualify 170,140 mail-in ballots that were cast early, in person, claiming there was no proper written request for the ballots; 28,395 missing ballots cast by those claiming “indefinitely detained” status; 17,271 missing ballots collected by Madison Parks election officers; and 5,517 mail-in ballots where the clerks filled in the missing information on the envelope in which the ballots were placed.

None of the ballots challenged by Trump in the recount were dismissed by election officials in Dane and Milwaukee counties. Evers argues in its documents that there is no legal basis for the ballots not to be counted.

For example, Evers notes that the Wisconsin Election Commission agreed more than four years ago to allow election clerks to fill in the missing information on envelopes containing postal ballots. And the commission, at least since 2011, said the envelope doubles as a written request, which Trump disputes.

Evers lawyers say Trump’s arguments related to the acceptance of ballots in Madison parks and challenges to those who identified themselves as “confined indefinitely” should have been raised before the election.

The state Justice Department has also criticized Trump for seeking to invalidate only ballots in two counties “presumably for partisan reasons,” even though each category of vote they attempt to disqualify is based on statewide guidelines and that ballots “surely” were issued in other counties.

Evers lawyers and the Election Commission also argued that it would be wrong to reject ballots from people who trusted the advice of election officials.

“Widespread denial of the right to vote for following the rules is not compatible with due process or a healthy democracy,” Justice Department lawyers said.

The Democratic National Committee and Biden voters are also trying to intervene in the trial.

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