On Wednesday, as final vote counts were still coming in, President Trump’s reelection campaign announced that it would be filing a lawsuit to stop the counting of votes in Michigan until officials with the campaign are allowed to observe the counting process.
Trump Campaign manager Bill Stepien said that they were not given “meaningful access” to watch the ballots be opened at numerous locations.
“We have filed suit today in the Michigan Court of Claims to halt counting until meaningful access has been granted. We also demand to review those ballots which were opened and counted while we did not have meaningful access. President Trump is committed to ensuring that all legal votes are counted in Michigan and everywhere else,” Stepien said in a statement.
Stepien believes that Trump could still win the election, despite the currently reported results.
https://twitter.com/TeamTrump/status/1324063718104276992
The suit was filed as Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden took the lead in Michigan as a result of mail-in ballots.
Trump tweeted in frustration about the results, and his post was flagged as misinformation slightly after.
“They are working hard to make up 500,000 vote advantage in Pennsylvania disappear — ASAP. Likewise, Michigan and others!” Trump tweeted.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has promised to allow the counting to continue despite the Trump campaign’s lawsuit.
Every legally cast ballot will be counted in accordance with the law. The outcome will be reflective of the will of the people of Michigan. #CountEveryVote https://t.co/8DqSqg33GH
— Dana Nessel (@dananessel) November 4, 2020
Other lawsuits are expected to come in other jurisdictions where votes are also contested.
“We are obviously leading a full court press to make sure that we have all of our legal teams that are in place. We want to make sure that all legally cast ballots are counted. We also want to make sure that illegally cast ballots are not counted,” senior Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller said, according to The Hill.
As of 2:30 on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported Joe Biden as the projected winner in Wisconsin, bringing his electoral votes to 248. However, President Trump’s campaign has indicated that they want a recount of the state’s votes.
“There have been reports of irregularities in several Wisconsin counties which raise serious doubts about the validity of the results. The President is well within the threshold to request a recount and we will immediately do so,” Stepien said.
Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is unsure if a recount will be allowed in the state because the candidates are separated by 20,000 votes.
After recount in 2011 race for WI Supreme Court, there was a swing of 300 votes. After recount in 2016 Presidential race in WI, @realDonaldTrump numbers went up by 131.
As I said, 20,000 is a high hurdle. #Election2020 https://t.co/CEr82eiCWH
— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) November 4, 2020
