A group of ten Republican attorneys general announced Monday that they are filing an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in a case challenging mail ballots in Pennsylvania, arguing that the state increased the risk of fraud in the election.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt led the group in submitting the brief, which asks the Supreme Court to reverse a recent decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court allowing mail-in ballots to be received three days after Election Day, including those lacking a postmark to prove they were mailed by Election Day.
The brief argues the state court’s ruling was unconstitutional in that it violated the separation of powers. The attorneys general also argue that with the ruling, Pennsylvania exacerbated the risks of voter fraud in connection with absentee ballots.
The GOP attorneys general of Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and South Dakota joined Schmitt in filing the brief. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a similar brief, and Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter is expected to file an amicus brief on Tuesday in the case.
“Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our republic and it’s one of the reasons why the United States is the envy of the world,” Schmitt said at a press conference announcing the brief. “We have to ensure that every legal vote cast is counted and that every illegal vote not cast is not counted. To do so would disenfranchise millions of Americans.”
The Trump campaign has filed several lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia, and Michigan alleging irregularities in the vote counting process. President-Elect Biden was projected the winner of the presidential race on Saturday after a delay of several days during which key battleground states remained too close to call.