How Trump's challenges to the 2020 election unfolded in the courtroom
After Donald Trump claimed victory in the early morning hours after election night in 2020, his campaign and supporters turned to the courts to make that claim a reality.
WASHINGTON — After Donald Trump claimed victory in the early-morning hours after election night in 2020, his campaign and supporters turned to the courts to make that claim a reality. The Trump campaign and surrogates began filing lawsuits the very same day, challenging the results on a variety of grounds well before the final votes were counted.
The legal process and tactics may provide insight into how Trump or his allies could launch similar efforts should he lose again this time.
Over the remainder of November and into December, Trump and his Republican allies filed dozens of lawsuits in key swing states that, if successful, would have given Trump the Electoral College votes needed to remain in the White House. Their efforts stretched from local county courts all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and were supported by solo practitioners and state attorneys general alike.
Of the more than 60 lawsuits filed in the post-election period, Trump obtained a favorable ruling in only one case — the remainder were eventually either dismissed, settled or voluntarily withdrawn.
Approximately 12 hours after Trump declared victory in a 2 a.m. speech from the White House, the campaign filed lawsuits seeking to stop the counts in Michigan and Georgia. Later that day, a third lawsuit was filed in Pennsylvania seeking to prevent voters from “curing” mail-in ballots that lacked proof of identification.
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