A judge just struck down Trump's attempt to throw out 221,000 votes in Wisconsin - including votes cast by mail because of the pandemic

• President Donald Trump lost yet another election lawsuit Friday, this time in Wisconsin.
• The lawsuit sought to invalidate 221,000 votes in Milwaukee and Dane counties, arguing that election laws weren't properly followed in their recounts.
• Reserve Judge Stephen Simanek said they properly followed the laws, which permitted more people than usual to vote by mail because of the coronavirus pandemic.
• The case had drawn some attention because Trump's top lawyer in the case said he and his wife voted using an illegal method.

A judge in Wisconsin on Friday threw out President Donald Trump's attempt to invalidate 221,000 votes in the state, affirming that Trump lost and that President-elect Joe Biden will receive the state's 10 electoral votes.

The lawsuit sought to invalidate votes cast in Milwaukee and Dane counties, where Trump requested a recount.

After he lost the recount - and increased his loss margin - Trump sued the counties to dispute all the votes, arguing that Wisconsin's election laws weren't properly followed.

Reserve Judge Stephen Simanek said on Friday that the counties properly followed the law and praised them for their transparency in conducting the recount.

"The real dispute here is whether or not there were erroneous interpretations of law used in the recount involved in whether the ballots should be counted or not counted," Simanek said, adding that "the court is satisfied" that Wisconsin correctly interpreted those laws.

Simanek issued the ruling immediately after a hearing with lawyers for Trump and for Dane and Milwaukee counties. It also included lawyers representing Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, whom Trump sued personally even though they have no involvement in Wisconsin's election administration.

The judge said he was acting quickly because Wisconsin was the only state to miss the "safe harbor" deadline before the Electoral College formalizes Biden's victory on Monday.

"The bottom line here is that the court should do everything to ensure the will of the voters prevails," Simanek said.

Trump's lawyers argued it shouldn't be so easy to vote in a pandemic

The lawsuit argued that various Wisconsin election rules were unconstitutional or flew in the face of the state's election laws. Trump sued only counties where he lost, even though other counties may have followed the same rules.

Among the issues, Trump's attorneys argued, was that counties made it too easy to vote in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far killed more than 292,000 people in the United States.

About 250,000 voters in the state gave themselves an "indefinitely confined" designation, which allowed them to vote absentee. Trump's lawyers argued the designation was unfairly used to circumvent rules about absentee ballots.

"To review the ID requirement is no basis for throwing out the votes," Simanek said in his oral ruling. "It's far more likely that because of the pandemic, people would be concerned to not go out in public, that people didn't want to stand in a polling place for hours to cast a ballot. I can't really strike down those votes to support an inference that is not supported in fact."

Simanek also pointed out that the rules surrounding the "indefinitely confined" status had been on the books for more than 30 years. Trump's lawsuits have often challenged election rules or laws that were in place well before the 2020 election, but the lawsuits were brought weeks after voting ended.

This case also drew some notoriety because Jim Troupis, the top lawyer arguing the case on behalf of Trump, said he and his wife voted using methods he said were illegal.

Troupis said in court on Friday that he would appeal the ruling.

Trump has another ongoing lawsuit in Wisconsin that was heard in federal court earlier this week. A ruling in that case is expected in the next few days.

Of the 38 lawsuits brought by him and his allies, zero have resulted in a victory.

This article has been updated.

• Read more:
• The Trump campaign's new lawsuit would invalidate 221,000 Wisconsin ballots - including votes cast by mail because of the coronavirus pandemic
• Trump's top election lawyer in Wisconsin says he and his wife voted illegally in the campaign's latest legal argument
• Trump and his allies have won zero out of at least 38 lawsuits they've filed since Election Day
• Judges striking down and dismissing Trump's election lawsuits keep asking: Why'd you wait so long?