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Attorney general files Michigan's response to Texas' election lawsuit

December 15, 2020
<p>Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel speaks during a press conference at the G. Mennen Williams Building in Lansing on Feb. 21, 2019.</p>

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel speaks during a press conference at the G. Mennen Williams Building in Lansing on Feb. 21, 2019.

Photo by Anntaninna Biondo | The State News

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed her response to the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's lawsuit yesterday with the U.S. Supreme Court. The lawsuit seeks to overturn Michigan's election results, as well as other battleground states.

Nessel said in a press release that this Texas lawsuit is “an unprecedented one, without factual foundation and without a valid legal basis.” 

“The base of Texas’s claims rests on an assertion that Michigan has violated its own election laws," the filing said. "Not true. That claim has been repeatedly rejected in the federal and state courts in Michigan, and just yesterday the Michigan Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch effort to request an audit. Not only is the complaint here meritless, but its jurisdictional flaws abound and provide solid ground to dispose of this action.” 

Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin were listed as defendants in the suit. All of which have made similar claims to those noted in Texas' complaint brought in their respective federal and state appellate courts, which have been sound and summarily rejected.

“Trump and his ambassadors – like the Texas Attorney General – have used our court system to wage a disinformation campaign baselessly attacking the integrity of our election system," Nessel said. "In addition to just spreading falsehoods on social media platforms, through media channels, and from seats positioned before our state legislatures, they’ve now done so at our country’s highest court. I am confident the Supreme Court will reject Texas’ bid to disenfranchise millions of Michigan voters and I am proud to represent the people of my state in defense of the very essence of our core democratic values. Michigan voters will decide the outcome of their elections, not Texas politicians.”   

Michigan has had numerous false claims against election officials, including prohibiting Republican poll challengers from monitoring vote counting and the legality of casting a mail-in ballot and election fraud.

President Donald Trump has expressed that he intends to intervene in the Texas lawsuit, while multiple Republican state attorneys general have filed amicus briefs in support of Texas. 

This is one of many suits that have been filed following the Nov. 3 general election disputing the results of which concluded that Democratic President-elect Joe Biden won over Trump.

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