5 Nov 2020

US election: Trump campaign files suit in Michigan

From Morning Report, 8:14 am on 5 November 2020

The campaign of President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit in Michigan to stop the counting of ballots in the presidential election.

There is no clear presidential winner in the swing state, which has 16 electoral votes.

Biden has a razor-thin margin and 93 percent of the expected vote is in.

The Trump campaign team says they want to "halt counting until meaningful access has been granted. We also demand to review those ballots which were opened and counted while we did not have meaningful access".

Trump's campaign is also demanding a recount in Wisconsin, another state where he is neck and neck with Biden.

The states' officials are mounting defences of their vote counting and systems.

The president has made a number of startling accusations about the legitimacy of the results.

On Twitter, Trump wrote that results from Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan favouring Joe Biden were, in his words, "So bad for our Country!"