Wisconsin Supreme Court refuses to hear Trump campaign election lawsuit — for now

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday declined to take up one of the lawsuits filed in the state by the Trump campaign earlier in the week, determining in a 4-3 decision that the petition seeking to toss out more than 220,000 absentee ballots should be heard by a lower court.

What are the details?

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and their re-election campaign sued Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) and several election officials in the state, presenting what the campaign called "clear evidence of unlawfulness" that is says "affected no less than approximately 221,000 ballots out of over the three three million ballots cast."

But the majority of the state's highest court agreed that under Wisconsin law, the case should first be seen by a circuit court.

The Washington Post reported that "one conservative member of the panel, Brian Hagedorn, joined the court's three more liberal members in declining to take the case," writing "that he had determined the court should decline to take the case so the Trump campaign could 'promptly exercise' its right to seek action in a lower court."

Courthouse News noted that "the other three members of the court's conservative majority dissented."

The outlet reported:

Grassl Bradley, an appointee of Republican former Governor Scott Walker, wrote that "the majority takes a pass on resolving the important questions presented by the petitioners in this case, thereby undermining the public's confidence in the integrity of Wisconsin's electoral processes not only during this election, but in every future election."

In reaction to the court's narrow decision, Trump campaign attorney James Troupis said in a statement, "We welcome the direction of the Supreme Court to file in Dane and Milwaukee Counties as we pursue making certain that only legal votes count in Wisconsin — and we will immediately do so."

He added, "It was clear from their writings that the court recognizes the seriousness of these issues, and we look forward to taking the next step. We fully expect to be back in front of the Supreme Court very soon."

Anything else?

The Trump/Pence campaign has filed dozens of lawsuits nationwide, alleging widespread voting fraud and irregularities in several states in challenging Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as the projected winner. The Hill noted that their litigation attempts "have largely proved unsuccessful."

On Wednesday, the campaign filed another lawsuit in Wisconsin (in district court) against the Wisconsin Elections Commission and the mayors of the state's five largest cities: Milwaukee, Madison, Kenosha, Green Bay and Racine.

The official Wisconsin tally indicates Biden won the state by more than 20,000 votes.