Judge dismisses lawsuit challenging Biden’s win in Georgia

By Mark Niesse, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS)

Supporters of President Donald Trump listen to speakers during a “Stop the Steal” rally, featuring Lin Wood and Sidney Powell, in Alpharetta, Georgia, on December 2, 2020. (Ben Gray/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

ATLANTA — A federal judge threw out a lawsuit Monday that relied on conspiracy theories to try to invalidate Georgia’s election results, which showed Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten dismissed the lawsuit, which was bought by former Trump attorney Sidney Powell in an attempt to decertify Georgia’s election.

“They want this court to substitute its judgment for the 2.5 million voters who voted for Biden,” Batten said in court in Atlanta. “This I’m unwilling to do.”

“They want this court to substitute its judgment for the 2.5 million voters who voted for Biden. This I’m unwilling to do.”

US DISTRICT JUDGE TIMOTHY BATTEN

The decision leaves Georgia’s election intact, supporting state officials’ statements that there was no evidence of widespread fraud.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Monday he plans to certify the election results again after a second recount that again confirmed Biden defeated Trump.

Powell’s lawsuit had alleged ballot-stuffing, vote-flipping and voting machine tampering, among several other theories about how Trump could have lost in Georgia.

But attorneys for state election officials said those accusations weren’t backed up by facts.

Batten dismissed the case based on similar reasoning as the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which decided Saturday that a Trump supporter, L. Lin Wood, lacked standing to sue, and that federal courts have limited jurisdiction in cases contesting election results. Those kinds of cases should be filed in state courts, Batten said.

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