Nebraska among list of states joining Texas election lawsuit

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - Nebraska and 16 other states have joined a lawsuit initially filed by the Texas attorney general demanding that the 62 total Electoral College votes in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin be invalidated.

Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia as well as the Trump campaign have also signed on to the lawsuit filed Tuesday by Republican Ken Paxton.

“It is absolutely essential that credible claims of election improprieties be brought to light and fully investigated,” Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen said in a news release Wednesday afternoon. “Tens of millions of Americans have been left wondering about the integrity of our elections. The success of our representative democracy requires that legitimate concerns about the election be properly addressed. The Texas lawsuit is an effort to do so.”

Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson ultimately made the decision for the state to attach itself to the lawsuit.

The Supreme Court has asked for responses by Thursday. Out of the roughly 50 lawsuits filed around the country contesting the Nov. 3 vote, Trump has lost more than 35 and the others are pending, according to an Associated Press tally.

The Nebraska Democratic Party released the following response, as well:

“By joining this lawsuit, Ricketts is telling Nebraskans that he believes state legislatures should pick a president — not American voters,” NDB Chairwoman Jane Kleeb said. “Nebraskans of all political backgrounds just voted at record levels in our state by mail and did so safely. The lawsuit Ricketts is endorsing, with our taxpayer money, tries to claim that mail-in ballots are illegal. This is an outrageous attack on the fundamentals of democracy. Ricketts and Trump are sore losers and need to focus on the real risks our state and country face with the growing COVID pandemic.”

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KOLN and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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