A federal judge in Georgia dismissed attorney Sidney Powell’s case on Monday, citing lack of standing and timeliness in filing the suit. Judge Timothy Batten presided over Pearson, et al. v. Kemp, et al – ultimately, he asserted that he lacked the authority to grant the relief sought by Powell.
Batten stated that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the consent decree established by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Powell disagreed, arguing that the electors are part of the constitutional clause entitling voters to standing.
“The Eleventh Circuit has basically said, ‘You know, we’re not the federal courts. We’re courts of limited jurisdiction, and we’re not open 24/7 to remedy every legal and constitutional issue that comes up,'” responded Batten. “They want state courts handling state elections disputes, even regarding federal elections. The federal government has nothing to do with the state election, [and] how it’s conducted. It’s the Secretary of State who is the chief election officer who decides it. Why shouldn’t the state of Georgia investigate this? Why should a federal judge?”
Powell argued that Batten had the jurisdiction to review the election under the United States Constitution, citing the Equal Protection Clause as one example.
“There were numerous departures from the state statute, including the early processing of votes, and the de-facto obligation of signature matches that give rise to federal equal protection claims.”
Powell asserted that they’d present more than enough evidence to meet prima facie.
“We need to have discovery. It’s so important to the American people. Particularly an infringement that is built on the rule of law to know that their election system is fair and honest.”
Ultimately, Batten dismissed Powell’s requests for a decertification of the results. The judge stated that Powell should’ve filed the lawsuit months earlier.
“This suit could have been filed months ago at the time these machines were adopted. Instead, the plaintiffs waited until over three weeks after the election to file the suit. There’s no question in my mind that if I were to deny the motion to dismiss, the matter would be brought before the 11th Circuit, and the 11th Circuit would reverse me.”
A previous court case in Georgia from August challenged the security of the Dominion voting machines. The judge opined that the plaintiffs accurately proved the machines’ vulnerability to hacking and fraud. However, the decision was reached only a month before the election. As a result, the judge stated that she had no choice but to allow use of the machines.
The audio recording of the hearing is no longer available, and any links to those recordings may not be shared according to state law.
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Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Judge Timothy Batten” by University of Georgia School of Law.
