A new lawsuit is asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to toss the results of the presidential election, arguing that the state’s elections commission encouraged “illegal” absentee ballot drop boxes to be placed across the state.
The petitioner in the case, voter Dean Mueller, claims through attorney Karen Mueller that the Wisconsin Elections Commission’s direction led to more than 500 drop boxes being placed in municipalities without legal authority.
“Therefore, the ballot drop boxes that it encouraged the elections official to set up in 72 counties throughout the State of Wisconsin are illegal. Therefore, the ballots placed within the drop boxes are illegal ballots and cannot be counted under Wisconsin law,” the petition states.
Mueller contends that the Wisconsin Elections Commission acted outside of the legislative process in doing so and wants the Supreme Court to separate those absentee ballots dropped in boxes from the count, but if that is not possible, he wants to have the election nullified.
Karen Mueller, who according to Wisconsin Public Radio is Dean Mueller’s wife, wrote that should the election be tossed by the court, it should notify the state legislature and direct it to arrange a new election prior to Dec. 14, when electors across the country vote, or to appoint the state’s 10 electors.
Even if the case were to triumph, current results have President-elect Joe Biden with 306 Electoral College votes, meaning that election challenges in other states would also have to succeed in order to deprive Biden of the 270 votes needed to clinch the 2020 election, a prospect that appears unlikely.
The Wisconsin lawsuit also takes aim at the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, accusing it of running a “continuous propaganda campaign” to encourage ballot drop boxes.
“Under the apparent guise of protecting our country from a foreign threat of election interference, unknown government actors within CISA in working with these other organizations, did in fact interfere in the election laws of Wisconsin,” the petition contends.
Other lawsuits have been filed in Wisconsin following the election. Earlier this month, three voters filed federal litigation to argue that the absentee voting process in three counties, including the state’s two largest, included “illegal votes” that should nullify the election. That lawsuit was voluntarily dropped by the plaintiffs just days after filing.
The Badger State just completed a Trump campaign-initiated recount in Dane and Milwaukee counties, both Democratic strongholds, which resulted in a net gain of 87 votes for Biden, cementing his more than 20,000 vote lead over President Trump.
Lawsuits in other states seek similar remedies but have largely fallen flat in the judicial system. Trump on Sunday acknowledged that it would be difficult to get a case to the Supreme Court and said on Friday that he would leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for Biden on Dec. 14.
