Conservative group alleging voter fraud ends its lawsuits, including one in Wisconsin
HOUSTON — A conservative group on Monday moved to dismiss voter fraud lawsuits it had filed in four states, including Wisconsin, days after the group’s leader made baseless allegations questioning the integrity of the election.
Lawyers for True the Vote filed notices to dismiss cases in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania less than a week after suing in all four states. Jim Bopp Jr., an attorney for the group, declined to say why they were ending their lawsuits but confirmed there were no other cases pending from the group.
The action highlighted the dwindling legal options that President Donald Trump has as he continues to insist — against overwhelming evidence to the contrary — that fraud cost him an election he claims to have won.
Based in Houston, True the Vote is one of several conservative groups that have tried to sow doubts about President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Following Trump’s lead, True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht accused states that Biden won of counting illegal votes without presenting evidence.
“All we want are the facts — regardless of the final outcome — so that we can determine where vulnerabilities in the election system exist and take steps to fix them,” Engelbrecht said in a statement Friday announcing the group’s Wisconsin lawsuit.
Instead, Engelbrecht’s group ended that case and others before the lawsuits could proceed further. Engelbrecht did not return messages seeking comment.
Several other lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign and its have been rejected by judges, dismissed voluntarily, or settled. Others are still pending.
Trump has won at least two victories in court. A Pennsylvania judge ordered authorities in Philadelphia to let observers be physically closer to the tallying of mail-in ballots. Another judge in the state ordered counties not to count mail-in or absentee ballots for which the voter didn’t submit valid identification within six days after the election, but that ruling is expected to affect no more than a few thousand ballots.
Biden leads Trump in Pennsylvania by 67,000 votes. Biden won Wisconsin by about 20,500 votes.
Photos: Voting in 2020 election
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Poll worker MacGregor Wale greets voters Tuesday at the Catholic Multicultural Center in Madison.
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Poll worker Crystal Schoen greets election day voters Tuesday at the Catholic Multicultural Center in Madison.
Voting – Elver Park
People wait to vote at Elver Park in Madison on Tuesday morning. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and a record number of absentee ballots cast, many voters said they felt more secure casting ballots in person in what most agreed is the most consequential election of their lifetime.
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Keizan Sato works with absentee ballots Tuesday at Mendota Elementary School on Madison’s North Side.
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Election Day voting at Mendota Elementary School on Madison’s Northside.
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Esther Martin, left, and Keizan Sato process absentee ballots Tuesday at Mendota Elementary School on Madison’s North Side.
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Poll worker Paul Hartwig wipes down voting booths Tuesday at Mendota Elementary School on Madison’s North Side.
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Chief inspector Pat Butler oversees voting Tuesday at Mendota Elementary School on Madison’s North Side.
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Voters in the town of Wrightstown, south of De Pere, placed their once-used pens in a bucket after voting as part of the town’s efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on Election Day.
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Voters in the town of Wrightstown, south of De Pere, voted in every other booth to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
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Voters enter the town of Wrightstown polling place in Brown County Tuesday.
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About 80 people were in line at the polling site at the Swan Club in De Pere when the polls opened Tuesday. Brown County is a key area of the state for both presidential candidates.
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Voters wait in line on the dance floor at the Swan Club, a banquet hall — and today, a polling place — in the Brown County city of De Pere.
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A poll worker handles voting slips Tuesday at Olbrich Botanical Gardens on Madison’s East Side.
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Buck Rhyme, middle, checks in a voter before handing out a ballot slip Tuesday at Olbrich Botanical Gardens on Madison’s East Side.
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Voters wait to check in Tuesday at Olbrich Botanical Gardens on Madison’s East Side.
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After receiving her ballot from poll worker Sharon Gaskill, right, Hailey Zimmerman prepares to vote at the Vermont Town Hall in Vermont, Wis. Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
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Poll worker Kris Antonie processes absentee ballots at the Vermont Town Hall in Vermont, Wis. Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
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Town of Vermont, Wis. clerk Katie Zelle shares a space designated for election observers while waiting for voters at the Vermont Town Hall Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
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Peter Antonie and his wife, Kris, process absentee ballots at the Vermont Town Hall in Vermont, Wis. Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
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Pens used by voters share a tray at the Vermont Town Hall in Vermont, Wis. Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
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A former one room schoolhouse, which now serves as the Vermont Town Hall in Vermont, Wis., opened it doors to voters participating in the 2020 fall election Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Voting – Boys and Girls Club
Chief inspector Don Eggert hands a sealed bag of absentee ballots to poll workers Alice Howard, left, and Courtney Bartunek to be counted Tuesday at the Boys and Girls Club polling place on Madison’s South West Side. Howard and Bartunek were among Madison’s 3,993 first-time poll workers.
Voting in Oregon
Michelle Masterson takes a selfie in front of the “I Voted Today” sign outside Oregon Village Hall polling place in Oregon, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Voting in Stoughton
First Lutheran Church polling place in Stoughton, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Poll worker Joyce Kaping cleans a protection barrier during down time between voters at First Lutheran Church polling place in Stoughton, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Voting in Stoughton
A sign outside a polling place at the fire station in Stoughton, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Samantha Nelson casts her vote, with her daughter and nieces by her side, at First Lutheran Church in Stoughton, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Voter Hunter Payne, 21, right, goes over information with poll worker Jenny Baeseman before receiving his ballot at First Lutheran Church in Stoughton, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Maureen Nortridge fills out her ballot at First Lutheran Church in Stoughton, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Poll workers, including Stoughton High School students, David Stracener, left, and Amelia Rhinerson, with Heidi Heffron-Clark, at right, process absentee ballots at First Lutheran Church in Stoughton, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Voting at Elver Park
Sandra Dickman fills out her ballot in a tent at Elver Park in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Voter Alexander Boatwright, left, checks his address with poll workers Karen Carlson and Anders Clark, right, in a tent used as a polling location at Elver Park in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Poll worker Candace McDowell directs a voter inside a tent used as a polling place at Elver Park in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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