U.S. Appeals Court rules against Trump in suit challenging Wisconsin election

CHICAGO (WBAY) - A United States Appeals Court has ruled against President Donald Trump in his lawsuit against the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

On Christmas Eve, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a lower court’s ruling that Trump’s challenges lacked merit.

“We agree that Wisconsin lawfully appointed its electors in the manner directed by its Legislature and add that the President’s claim also fails because of the unreasonable delay that accompanied the challenges the President now wishes to advance against Wisconsin’s election procedures,” reads the decision of the panel of three justices.

The appeals court says the district court was right to enter judgment in favor of the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

The court says President Trump had a full opportunity before the election to challenge Wisconsin law involving elections.

“On the merits, the district court was right to enter judgment for the defendants. We reach this conclusion in no small part because of the President’s delay in bringing the challenges to Wisconsin law that provide the foundation for the alleged constitutional violation. Even apart from the delay, the claims fail under the Electors Clause,” the court says.

Democrat Joe Biden won Wisconsin by about 20,600 votes.

Trump has filed numerous legal challenges to Wisconsin’s election, but no judge or justice has found merit in his claims of voter fraud.

Trump paid for a recount of votes in Dane County and Milwaukee County, but the outcome showed little change in the results.

Wisconsin’s 10 electors cast votes for Biden and sent them to the U.S. Congress. On Jan. 6, Congress will read the electoral votes and Vice President Mike Pence will confirm the winner of the election. Biden has 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232 electoral votes.

There’s another lawsuit in federal court challenging the election results in Wisconsin and several other states.

State Rep. David Steffen (R-Green Bay) and State Rep. Jeff L. Mursau (R-Crivitz) and the Wisconsin Voters Alliance have joined a suit to challenge results in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Arizona.

The suit names defendants as Vice President Mike Pence, the House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, the Electoral College, governors and other legislative officials. It was filed in United States District Court.

The lawsuit alleges there is a “cabal of public-private partnerships” that “undermine state statutes and plans designed to protect the integrity of the election.”

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