The states of Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Utah on Dec. 10 asked the Supreme Court to let them intervene in an election lawsuit filed earlier in the week by the state of Texas.
In a brief motion to intervene filed on Thursday, the six states outlined the reasons they should be allowed to join the suit, arguing that their motion was timely, that they have an interest in the transaction in question, that their interests may be harmed by the disposition of the action and that they are not adequately represented in the action.
Texas sued the battleground states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin on Dec. 8, alleging that officials there conducted the 2020 general election in violation of the Constitution. The defendant states illegally altered election laws, causing a flood of mail-in votes without appropriate ballot integrity measures in place, Texas alleged. The resulting irregularities put the ultimate outcome of the election in doubt, the lawsuit argues.
“Trust in the integrity of our election processes is sacrosanct and binds our citizenry and the States in this Union together,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. “Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin destroyed that trust and compromised the security and integrity of the 2020 election.”
“The states violated statutes enacted by their duly elected legislatures, thereby violating the Constitution. By ignoring both state and federal law, these states have not only tainted the integrity of their own citizens’ vote, but of Texas and every other state that held lawful elections. Their failure to abide by the rule of law casts a dark shadow of doubt over the outcome of the entire election. We now ask that the Supreme Court step in to correct this egregious error.”
The six states were part of the group of 18 Republican states that filed amicus briefs in support of Texas a day prior.
Six other Republican attorneys general—from Alaska, Idaho, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Wyoming—have not filed briefs in support of Texas or motions to join the case. The offices of these attorneys general did not respond to a request for comment.
Legacy media outlets declared former Vice President Joe Biden the winner in the four states, but President Donald Trump has not conceded the race and continues to pursue legal challenges in the four defendant states as well as in Arizona and Nevada. The Trump campaign filed a motion to join the Texas case on Dec. 9.
The Supreme Court set a Dec. 10, 3 p.m. deadline for the defendants to file their arguments against the court taking up the case.
The twelve states that also filed briefs in support of Texas are Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
