Donald Trump has filed a suit to cease Michigan and Pennsylvania officials from counting votes, saying they want “access” to ballots to ensure there is no fraud, an accusation the president has already made about various states.
“We have filed suit today in the Michigan Court of Claims to halt counting until meaningful access has been granted,” Bill Stepien, Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, announced on Wednesday through a public statement. “We also demand to review those ballots which were opened and counted while we did not have meaningful access.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel responded to the Trump campaign by saying through her press secretary that the state’s votes have been counted “transparently.” She has not seen the lawsuit filed with the Court of Claims, but when she does, her office promises they will “respond accordingly.”
“Michigan will always continue to protect the rights of all voters to have their ballots counted," the statement reads.
Trump himself has already begun questioning results in key battleground states like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which his campaign is also suing to cease officials from continuing to count votes until "Republicans can assure" it is done "above board and by the law."
Despite Pennsylvania results still being tabulated, the president claimed on Wednesday to be “winning big” in the state, but warned about “millions” of other ballots still to be counted, most likely mail-in ballots, a process the president has called into question on multiple occasions.
Pennsylvania Republicans have been calling for their secretary of state, Kathy Boockvar, to resign due to what they claim were last minute policy changes that have held up the process, and made the state one of the last to report its final results. Boockvar has said it could take days to have a final tally.
After it was announced on Wednesday that Biden was likely walking away with a victory in Wisconsin, another state with delayed results, Trump also questioned votes cast after polls closed helping the former vice president.
He has also mentioned Michigan multiple times on Twitter as a location where ballots may have been manipulated. He even suggested Republican Senate candidate John James was being cheated out of his seat. James’ race has not been called yet, and he is in a near-tie with Sen. Gary Peters (D).
Biden’s campaign has meanwhile been celebrating as the candidate inches closer and closer to victory. In a tweet, his campaign predicted the former vice president will win Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan by larger margins than Trump did in 2016.
Trump’s campaign has also announced they will demand a recount in Wisconsin due to “reports of irregularities.” According to an NBC tally, Biden won the state by just over 20,000 votes.
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