Trump and allies begin litigation to stop counting ballots

President Trump and allies have already filed lawsuits to stop ballot counting in key swing states

President Donald Trump speaks about early results. Reuters

Republicans have begun filing lawsuits in key swing states as President Donald Trump told voters he would challenge a Joe Biden election victory on Wednesday morning.

"We will be going to the US Supreme Court," Mr Trump said, drawing bipartisan rebukes, as states continued to count all ballots.

Before the election, Republicans and Democrats had already filed more than 20 election-related lawsuits in key swing states that are still tabulating ballots, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Nevada.

Mr Trump's team filed a lawsuit in Michigan on Wednesday to stop the counting of ballots in the presidential election, claiming Republican vote watchers were not given access to counts.

"We have filed suit today in the Michigan Court of Claims to halt counting until meaningful access has been granted," the campaign said.

"We also demand to review those ballots which were opened and counted while we did not have meaningful access."

Edison Research said there was no clear winner in the state, which has 16 electoral votes.

US President Donald Trump speaks during election night in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. AFP

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks at a drive-in election night event as Dr. Jill Biden looks on at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware. AFP

Supporters of Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden watch election results outside the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware. AFP

US Vice President Mike Pence speaks flanked by US President Donald Trump during election night in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. AFP

Supporters pose with U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, center, following his victory speech after winning another term in office, in Columbia, S.C. AP Photo

Biden supporter Lala Walker reacts to early election results in Houston, Texas. REUTERS

President Donald Trump supporter Loretta Oakes reacts while watching returns in favor of Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, at a Republican election-night watch party, in Las Vegas. AP Photo

People gather to watch results in the presidential election on a screen in Times Square in New York, New York. EPA

Claire Woodall-Vogg, executive director of the Milwaukee election commission is escorted by police from the central count location where absentee ballots were being counted carrying the final count in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. AFP

Election officials count absentee ballots in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. AFP

Los Angeles Police Department officers form a line in front of demonstrators during the 2020 Presidential election in Los Angeles, California. Bloomberg

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, speaks during a news conference at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C. Bloomberg

A woman poses for a photo during an election night watch party organized by a group called "Villagers for Trump" in The Villages, Florida. AFP

People celebrate a win for incumbent candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) at Graham's election night watch party in Columbia, South Carolina. AFP

Supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden worry as they watch the election results unfold on a giant screen in a square near the White House in Washington, DC. AFP

People react as they watch early results on T.V as they gather at Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House during Election Day in Washington. Reuters

Martina Brown celebrates after being the last voter to cast her ballot at a polling station inside Knapp Elementary School on Election Day in Racine, Racine County, Wisconsin. Reuters

A Code Enforcement officer asks to a supporter to stop placing US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence campaign signs in the limits of a polling station during the 2020 US presidential election in Palm Beach, Florida. Reuters

Democratic congressional candidate Ilhan Omar speaks at the DFL election night watch party in St. Paul, Minnesota. Reuters

Republican US Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is joined by his wife Elaine Chao as he speaks at a press conference following his projected senate race victory at the Omni Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. EPA

Cairo Messenger newspaper publisher and editor Randy Fine, center, calls out election results as Steve Reagan writes them on the board on the front wall of the newspaper for the voters gathered in the street in Cairo, Georgia. AFP

Electoral workers at curbside voting in St. Charles County for voters who have coronavirus disease during Election Day in Missouri. Reuters

A election worker collects mail-in ballots at the Clark County election office in Las Vegas, Nevada. EPA

A woman wears a mask depicting US President Donald Trump at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, DC. EPA

Biden supporters face off a Trump supporter outside of a polling site, on Election Day in Houston, Texas. Reuters

Florida election results are displayed on a screen in Black Lives Matter Plaza during the 2020 Presidential election in Washington, DC. Bloomberg

First timer voter Jessica Henderson shows her "I Voted!" sticker after casting her ballot in-person on Election Day outside the Ruben F. Salazar Park recreation center, an official vote centre in East Los Angeles. AP Photo

Carolyn Fieles, left, Suzy Meredith-Orr, Frieda Wallison, and Judy Dunn open ballots in the Pitkin County Administration Building on Election Day in Aspen, Colorado. AP

Election workers organise ballots at the Multnomah County Elections Division Tuesday in Portland, Oregon. AP Photo

A supporter for Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) looks on during an Election Night party at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta In Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia. AFP

Volunteers gather at Detroit Branch NAACP Tuesday evening before polls closed in Detroit, Michigan. EPA

People gather in Times Square as they await election results in New York City. AFP

A woman helps an elderly voter put on headphone to follow directions as she casts her ballot at the Salazar Park polling location in Los Angeles, California. EPA

Mr Trump’s and Joe Biden’s campaigns have thousands of lawyers standing by ready to press their claims in court.

Republicans are generally pushing lawsuits that would stop states from counting additional votes amid the heavy influx of mail-in ballots that generally favour Mr Biden.

The Nevada Supreme Court struck down the Trump campaign’s lawsuit against a county’s method to count mail-in ballots.

But Mike Kelly, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives, filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania on Tuesday to block the state from counting provisional ballots for voters who had their absentee ballots disqualified.

And Kathy Barnette, a Republican congressional candidate in Pennsylvania, filed a separate lawsuit in that state to stop election officials contacting voters who had their absentee ballots rejected.

Although the US Supreme Court ruled last month that mail-in ballots arriving by Friday could be counted in Pennsylvania, as long as they were postmarked by November 3, the case may not yet be over.

The Supreme Court could also re-examine a case that would upend North Carolina’s current rule allowing it to count ballots arriving by November 12, as long as they were postmarked by election day.

The 2000 election came down to the Supreme Court’s decision in Bush v Gore regarding ballot counts in Florida.

But there were more than 20 other lawsuits filed in Florida alone in the 2000 election.

Mr Trump has appointed three of the Supreme Court’s current justices: Mr Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

Conservatives now dominate the high court, with six of them comfortably outnumbering its three liberal justices.