Justices Kavanaugh, Barrett and Gorsuch were missing in action in a Friday night order from the Supreme Court denying the state of Texas’ lawsuit against Pennsylvania and three other battleground states.
Only Justices Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a case directly to the Supreme Court, challenging the election results from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
The suit argued that the four states illegally made changes to the voting rules through the courts instead of through state legislatures, violating the Electors Clause. It also argues the differences in voting rules in different counties violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and cites claims of voting irregularities in the states.
Read the entire court order:
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2020
ORDER IN PENDING CASE
155, ORIG. TEXAS V. PENNSYLVANIA, ET AL.
The State of Texas’s motion for leave to file a bill of complaint is denied for lack of standing under Article III of the Constitution. Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections. All other pending motions are dismissed as moot.
Statement of Justice Alito, with whom Justice Thomas joins:
In my view, we do not have discretion to deny the filing of bill of complaint in a case that falls within our original jurisdiction. See Arizona v. California, 589 U. S. _ (Feb. 24, 2020) (Thomas, J., dissenting). I would therefore grant the motion to file the bill of complaint but would not grant other relief, and I express no view on any other issue.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court has denied Texas' last-ditch effort to overturn the election results in four battleground states that voted for Joe Biden. https://t.co/tZ1Vepu0Oh
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) December 11, 2020