17 U.S. states back Texas bid to undo Trump election loss at Supreme Court

As many as 17 U.S. states have backed a lawsuit by Texas to overturn President Donald trump’s election loss by asking the Supreme Court to throw out the voting results in several states.

Missouri Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt led his colleagues from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia in filing the brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.

All of the states were represented by Republican officials in the filing.

Writing on Twitter, Trump said, "This is the big one.  Our Country needs a victory!"

Texas attorney general Ken Paxton had launched the legal action against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin over their conduct of the November 3 election. The four states, which have 62 total Electoral College votes, were swept by president-elect Joe Biden.

Paxton’s complaint does not allege voter fraud, but points out that there were “voting irregularities,” improper “amendments to States’ duly enacted election laws,” and even potential suppression of the Republican vote in all four states.

The Texas suit argued that coronavirus-related changes made by the four states to voting procedures and expand mail-in voting were unlawful.

Texas asked the Supreme Court to immediately block the four states from using the voting results to appoint presidential electors to the Electoral College.

Trump himself filed a motion with the court asking for intervention to become a plaintiff in the suit filed on Tuesday by Republican-governed Texas against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Election law experts have said the Texas lawsuit lacks legal merit and stands little chance of success.

The lawsuit was the latest in a series of election challenges brought by Trump's campaign and supporters that so far have failed in numerous courts.

Officials from Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have called the lawsuit a reckless attack on democracy.

Trump has claimed he won re-election and has made allegations of widespread voting fraud. Election officials at the state level have said they have found no evidence of such fraud.

Biden has amassed 306 electoral votes compared to Trump's 232 in the state-by-state Electoral College that determines the election's outcome.