U.S.
GOP and Allies Go 0-5 in Georgia as Election Lawsuit
Fails Ahead of Senate Runoffs
BY MATTHEW
IMPELLI ON 12/28/20 AT 4:59 PM EST
A federal
judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit that sought to stop the Senate runoff in
Georgia, giving the Republican Party and allies an 0-5 record in election
lawsuits in the state.
The lawsuit
dismissed Monday was filed earlier this month by pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood in
the U.S. District Court in Atlanta. It sought to halt voting in the state's
Senate runoff elections on January 5. Lin wanted to change voting procedures,
such as in verifying signatures on absentee ballots and the counting of
ballots, before the contests were decided.
According
to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten Sr.
denied Wood's request for a temporary restraining order, and said that his
claims were "too speculative."
In response
to the suit being dismissed, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger
wrote, "Time and time again we have successfully fought off lawsuits from
the right and the left looking to undermine rule of law in Georgia."
"The
numerous baseless and frivolous lawsuits, funded by unsuspecting Georgians who
are being duped by Wood, are just the latest in a long history of lawsuits to
nowhere in Georgia," Raffensperger wrote in the statement.
Newsweek
reached out to Raffensperger's office for comment.
In addition
to the suit dismissed on Monday, four other lawsuits in Georgia, filed by
President Donald Trump and several other Republican allies, have also been
dismissed ahead of the Senate runoff.
Last week,
a federal judge in Augusta rejected a lawsuit filed by a Twelfth Congressional
District Republican committee. The lawsuit sought to end the use of ballot drop
boxes and the early counting of mail-in ballots. According to the
Journal-Constitution, the lawsuit also challenged Raffensperger and his
guidance to counties on absentee ballot signature matching, stating that the
guidance discouraged local officials from rejecting ballots based on
signatures.
Another
lawsuit was filed by Republican incumbents in Georgia's Senate runoffs, Kelly
Loeffler and David Perdue, as well as the Georgia Republican Party and the
National Republican Senatorial Committee. The lawsuit aimed to change a March
agreement between Democrats and election officials in the state that stopped the
rejection of absentee ballots because of a different signature on the return
envelope.
The suit
was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross, who said, "Regarding
standing on behalf of Senators Loeffler and Purdue, the alleged potential
future injury to the candidates is far too speculative to substantiate an
injury in fact."
Two other
lawsuits were previously dismissed, with one filed by Trump and another from
attorney Sidney Powell. The Trump campaign distanced itself from Powell last
month, despite a mid-November tweet in which the president called her part of a
"truly great" legal team challenging the election results.
Earlier
this month, Federal Judge Timothy Batten in Georgia dismissed Powell's case,
which aimed at decertifying the results of the state's election, alleging
widespread voter fraud.
Similarly,
on December 7, Georgia's Republican leaders rejected a call from Trump to hold
a special legislative session seeking to overturn the state's election results.
Governor
Brian Kemp and Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan said in a joint statement that
holding a special session of the Georgia General Assembly "in order to
select a separate slate of presidential electors is not an option that is
allowed under state or federal law."
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