The U.S. Supreme Court shot down an appeal from Republicans who challenged a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that challenged the outcome of the state’s 2020 election results. But Clarence Thomas wrote a bitter dissent which seems to support former president Donald Trump’s false claims that he actually won.
Trump’s claims of fraud in ballots cast in Pennsylvania and other states, has fueled a belief among the far right that the elections were stolen by Democrats and that Joe Biden was not legitimately elected. Thomas, used the term fraud several times in his dissent, asserting that Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices decision to allow ballots received three days after the election to be counted due to coronavirus related delays, leaves the possibility of election fraud open.
“We failed to settle this dispute before the election, and thus provide clear rules,” Thomas wrote. “Now we again  fail to provide clear rules  for  future  elections.  The decision to leave election law hidden beneath  a shroud of doubt is baffling. By doing nothing, we invite  further confusion and erosion of voter confidence.”
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Although there were many lawsuits in several states, no evidence of overwhelming election fraud was proven in any court. But lawyers for Republicans tried to argue that the state court went beyond its authority in its ruling. The ballots they argued about added up to about 10,000, not enough to have overturned the outcome in Pennsylvania, which ultimately led to Biden being elected president. Biden won the state with 3.4 million votes to Trump’s 3.3 million, CBS News reports.
Two other conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch agreed in their opinions that the arguments should have been listened to in order to give guidance to elections in the future.
Thomas, has long been known as a supporter of conservative issues, but in this dissent, he is seen as willing to participate in partisanship.
“Trump may be out of office, but his staunchest ally on the U.S. Supreme Court is carrying on his assault on the legitimacy of the election,” wrote Slate.com.
Meanwhile, Democratic critics have made calls to investigate Thomas’ wife Ginni, because of suggestions that her outspoken support for Trump may have influenced him.