Federal judge skeptical of Massachusetts Republicans’ ‘terribly unfair’ election lawsuit
The suit seeks an order decertifying the election results in the state, alleging that no-excuse mail-in voting is unconstitutional.
BOSTON (AP) — A Republican lawsuit challenging the November election in Massachusetts was met with heavy skepticism before a federal judge on Tuesday, as similar efforts have failed repeatedly in courts across the country.
The lawsuit filed this week by five Republicans who lost their bids for the U.S. or state House of Representatives — including former U.S. congressional candidates John Paul Moran, Helen Brady and Caroline Colarusso — seeks an order decertifying the election results in the state, alleging that no-excuse mail-in voting is unconstitutional. The lawsuit includes similar claims brought by President Donald Trump and his allies that have been swatted down dozens of times by judges in battleground states.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said during a hearing held by telephone that the timing of the lawsuit is suspect, The Boston Herald reported.
“You’re asking me to invalidate an entire election that just happened, which just strikes me as — it’s not just unfair to me and the courts and the attorney general’s office and too late and misplaced, but just terribly unfair to all the people that showed up to vote in this election in the middle of a pandemic in order to make their voices heard,” she said.
The judge set a hearing for next Thursday on the Republicans’ request for a preliminary injunction, through she said “there’s nothing specific whatsoever in your complaint that leads me to believe there’s going to be any basis for granting” the request.
Moran, one of the Republicans who brought the case, said he believed they presented a “very, very strong case.”
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