Federal judge in Atlanta denies last-minute push by Trump to decertify Georgia Biden victory
The judge said Donald Trump is requesting an extraordinary and unprecedented remedy
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Your support makes all the difference.A US federal judge on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump’s lawsuit seeking to nullify Joe Biden’s victory in the battleground state of Georgia, adding it to the long list of lawsuits by the president thrown out by US courts.
Judge Mark H Cohen in Atlanta denied the emergency petition to decertify 2020 election’s Georgia results. The complaint was filed on 31 December against Georgia's governor and secretary, citing Mr Trump’s claims of election fraud, voting by dead people, and unregistered voters.
"The parties presented argument in regards to Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Declaratory Relief. Court denied the motion and advised that an order will be forthcoming today," the statement from the court document read.
The last-minute futile attempt by the Trump administration was rejected a day before Electoral College count when Congress is scheduled to officially certify Mr Biden’s victory.
The Trump campaign and Republicans have lost 62 out of 63 total lawsuits filed since 3 November in challenges spanning eight states and dozens of courts.
The judge said the president is asking “an extraordinary and unprecedented remedy” that would subvert the will of millions of people who casted their ballots lawfully.
“To interfere with the result of an election that has already concluded and has been audited and certified on multiple occasions would be unprecedented and harm the public in countless ways,” Mr Cohen said in his decision.
Mr Trump also raised false accusations of voters’ fraud in his hourlong phone call to Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger and mounted pressure on officials to undo Mr Biden’s victory. Mr Trump was heard asking Mr Raffensperger to “find” just enough votes for him in Georgia to win the election.
Mr Raffensperger and his staff have reiterated that there is no evidence of wrongdoing in elections at the time when the president demanded a recount of Georgia votes. The recount confirmed president-elect Biden won the state by almost 12,000 votes.
The ruling in Mr Trump’s attempt to decertify result might not put an end to legal challenges to the state’s result. Another case with similar allegations against Mr Raffensperger is scheduled for Friday before Georgia Superior Court Judge Adele Grubbs in Atlanta.
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