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Trump campaign files second lawsuit in Michigan over election

The Trump campaign on Wednesday filed a lawsuit accusing Michigan of preventing election challengers from properly observing the election process. Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI
The Trump campaign on Wednesday filed a lawsuit accusing Michigan of preventing election challengers from properly observing the election process. Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Following its failed attempt to stop the counting of ballots in Michigan last week, the re-election campaign for President Donald Trump on Wednesday filed a second lawsuit in the state seeking to prevent it from certifying election results until officials can ensure no unlawful ballots were cast in the general election.

The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan is part of a broader litigious campaign by the president, who has yet to concede defeat in the general election, to discredit its results that show Democratic challenger Joe Biden has won the presidency.

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Trump and his team have sued several states and counties citing voter fraud and tabulation irregularities, despite a lack of evidence.

Trump filed a lawsuit in Michigan following the Nov. 3 general election to halt the counting of ballots until more poll challengers could observer the counting-effort -- a request that was denied.

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Wednesday's suit, which was expected to come on Tuesday, names Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Wayne County as defendants, accusing them of allowing "fraud and incompetence to corrupt the conduct of the 2020 general election."

"The numerous reports we have heard from credible witnesses of Michigan's election processes are alarming," Matt Morgan, general counsel for Trump's re-election campaign, said in a statement. "Every American should have faith in our electoral process and know that their legal vote was both counted and protected."

Relying upon the affidavits of more than 100 election challengers, the Trump campaign accuses the state of denying them "a meaningful opportunity to review election officials in Wayne County handling votes, processing absent voter ballots, validating the legitimacy of absent voter ballots and the general conduct of the election and ballot counting."

It also alleges officials back-dated absentee ballots to ensure they were counted, counted ineligible ballots and of tabulators in Wayne County miscounting votes cast for Trump.

According to the complaint, some of the challengers said they were denied access to Detroit's TFC Center ballot counting location while others who had been admitted said they weren't allowed to return after leaving the location.

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Others also said their complaints concerning ballots went ignored while Articia Bomer said she believes votes cast for Trump may have gone uncounted.

"I witnessed election workers open ballots with Donald Trump votes and respond by rolling their eyes and showing it to other poll workers. I believe some of these ballots may not have been properly counted," she is quoted in the complaint as having said.

The suit also said voting machines in Antrim County had miscalculated votes in favor of Biden, a claim Secretary of State Benson has denied, stating the equipment did not malfunction and all ballots were properly tabulated.

"Because the clerk did not update software, even though the tabulators counted all the ballots correctly, those accurate results were not combined properly when the clerk reported unofficial results," Benson said in a statement on Friday in response to allegations made by Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessle described the Trump lawsuits to reporters during a press call as "baseless" and chastised the Trump campaign for filing Wednesday's suit in the Western District of Michigan when the allegations center in Detroit.

She described the filing as a "brazen case of forum shopping."

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"The thing I will say about all these lawsuits is here is what is consistent: Firstly, there is either no evidence to support their claims or their claims are demonstrably false and in addition, even if true, which they're not, these claims would not change the results in the election in Michigan," she said.

"And I will say this, as an attorney who has practiced in this state now for over 25 years, if I ever walked into court with claims that were this baseless and this frivolous, I would be sanctioned and I would likely be looking at a loss of licensure," she added.

Though ballots are still being counted, Biden has been announced the presumed winner in Michigan. He has received nearly 150,000 votes more than Trump, CNN and NBC have reported.

Late Wednesday, Trump tweeted that "hundreds of thousands of votes" should not be counted in Pennsylvania and Michigan due to challengers not being allowed to properly observe the process.

"Therefore, I easily win both states," he said.

Twitter flagged the statement for containing disputed claims.

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