Politics
Politics

Judge denies Trump lawsuit to decertify Georgia election results

1/4/21 - Dalton, GA - President Donald Trump holds a rally in Dalton, GA, to campaign for Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler on the eve of the special election which will determine control of the U.S. Senate. (Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@ajc.com)

Credit: Curtis Compton / curtis.compton@ajc.com

Credit: Curtis Compton / curtis.compton@ajc.com

1/4/21 - Dalton, GA - President Donald Trump holds a rally in Dalton, GA, to campaign for Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler on the eve of the special election which will determine control of the U.S. Senate. (Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@ajc.com)
By
Jan 5, 2021

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to invalidate Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia.

U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen ruled against Trump’s effort to decertify Georgia’s election results before Congress meets Wednesday to count votes of the Electoral College. Biden won 306 electoral votes — including 16 from Georgia — to 232 for Trump.

The state’s vote count was already certified by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp, leading Cohen to deny Trump’s motion for a preliminary injunction. A recount confirmed that Biden won Georgia by almost 12,000 votes.

Trump’s lawsuit repeated unsubstantiated allegations that enough out-of-state and ineligible voters had cast ballots to change the outcome. Judges in several Georgia lawsuits have denied relief to Trump and his supporters.

Raffensperger has said there’s no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Georgia, and the results have been verified through a series of recounts and audits.

About the Author

Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.

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