Ramin Mazaheri
Press TV, Chicago
In a historic first, 18 states, led by Texas, sued four states over the long-running controversy of mail-in ballots. It was by far the most serious challenge yet to the integrity of the recent US presidential election.
The crux of the lawsuit was not related to the widespread allegations of - so far unproven - criminal conspiracy to commit voter fraud, but a question of constitutional law.
The lawsuit asserted that constitutional law was broken months ago when some state governors bypassed state legislatures via executive order to issue unprecedented numbers of mail-in ballots.
However, just three days before the Electoral College votes to decide the president, the Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit in a huge win for the projected victory of challenger Joe Biden. Biden supporters voiced relief and exasperation that election challenges are continuing for so long.
Trump supporters are likely to now criticize the Supreme Court for allegedly playing politics, and for not agreeing to hear the case in public. The lawsuit had been joined by the incumbent Donald Trump, two-thirds of all Republicans in the House of Representatives, and polls consistently show that 80% of Republican voters still believe challenger Joe Biden’s projected win was due to vote fraud.
What’s certain is that this will not be the last election-related dispute. The lawsuit indicates the depth of grassroots and elite support for even more legal battles to decide who is the rightful president in this ever-more divided nation.