LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — With former Vice President Joe Biden on the cusp of reaching 270 electoral votes, President Donald Trump's campaign is hoping to contest early results in the courts.
The campaign filed lawsuits Wednesday in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia, hours after the president declared himself--without evidence--the victor of the 2020 race and said he wanted to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Joshua Douglas, an election law professor at the University of Kentucky, told LEX 18 there doesn't appear to be a legal basis to request that the Supreme Court grant an end to the counting of ballots.
"It takes four justices to agree to take the case and five to make a ruling," Douglas said. "And I don't know if there are four justices who are willing to take a case like this that would ultimately decide the outcome of the election."
Douglas said that in order for a case to get to the Supreme Court, that there would have to be a bucket of ballots for the candidates to fight over.
Last week, the Supreme Court allowed election officials in Pennsylvania and North Carolina to accept ballots for several days after Election Day.
Douglas characterized President Trump's press conference early Wednesday morning as an "existential threat to our democracy."
"I think it's extremely damaging for the president of the United States to be undermining the legitimacy of our election," Douglas said.
The professor is imploring every person, including the president, to be patient.
"I'm gonna practice what I've been preaching, which is patience and to let the votes be counted," he said. "Nothing is official until all the votes are counted and the election officials announce the winners."
