Salon: Appeals court rejects Trump’s attempt to block certification of Pennsylvania’s election results

Voting rights advocates expressed excitement and relief on Friday after a federal appellate panel upheld a lower court’s ruling rejecting a request from President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign for an emergency injunction to overturn the certification of election results in Pennsylvania.

After Pennsylvania certified its results earlier this week—the state was among those that helped deliver President-elect Joe Biden’s historic and decisive victory—Trump continued to deny the outcome, saying that “this election has to be turned around, because we won Pennsylvania by a lot.”

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals panel of three Republican-appointed judges unanimously denied the campaign’s injunction request, with Judge Stephanos Bibas writing: “Voters, not lawyers, choose the president. Ballots, not briefs, decide elections.”

“Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy,” added Bibas, a Trump appointee, in the 21-page opinion (pdf). “Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.”

Advocacy groups—including Black Political Empowerment Project, Common Cause Pennsylvania, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, and NAACP Pennsylvania State Conference—were intervenors in the case, along with eight impacted voters represented by the state and national ACLU, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Public Interest Law Center, and the law firm Covington & Burling LLP.

“Once again, this court decision is a win for voters,” declared Suzanne Almeida, elections adviser for Common Cause Pennsylvania. “We’re glad that this court, also, recognized the lack of evidence and lack of merit in this lawsuit. In America, voters choose our elected officials. Pennsylvania’s voters made a collective decision, weeks ago, and that decision needs to be honored.”