PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Trump campaign lawsuits to invalidate thousands, if not millions, of ballots cast in Pennsylvania and other states will likely face an uphill battle. Election lawyers say courts are reluctant to disenfranchise voters.
“I think it’s going to be a heavy lift to get a court to overturn the will of voters,” said Lauren Vidas, a Philadelphia-based election law attorney who spent time doing voter protection during the 2012 Obama Campaign. “For the most part, courts really do try to stay out of elections and allow votes to stand based on election law.”
Vida said the court’s reluctance stems from the political nature of elections, so they tend to set a high bar for parties seeking court intervention. She said they set an even higher bar for those seeking to throw out ballots.
“I think you would have to show systemic fraud and I think you would have to show bad faith,” explained Vidas, “and I don’t think you have it in either of those cases.”
The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania in both federal and state court, alleging breach of election procedures, including claims that Republican observers had limited access to observe vote counting in Democratic counties and that Democratic counties gave voters time to cure ballot errors, while Republican counties did not.
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There are also allegations of fraud and potential fraud, but the burden is on the plaintiffs to provide evidence and facts to support their claims.
“The parties bringing these lawsuits have no proof,” said Mimi McKenzie, legal director for the Public Interest Law Center, which is seeking to intervene in the federal lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign.
She said courts give deference to eligible voters who have properly cast their ballots based on guidance by government officials, and it’s very hard to toss such ballots, even if it turns out later that election officials' guidance is reversed.
“That’s not a basis to toss aside someone’s fundamental right to vote,” said McKenzie.
McKenzie said the right to vote is viewed by courts as the most sacred right in American democracy.