Conservative Attorneys Prepared to Defend Validity of Mail-In Ballots as Trump Tries to Stop Vote Count

A group of conservative attorneys is prepared to defend mail-in and absentee ballots as President Donald Trump's campaign files lawsuits to stop the counting of votes in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

In a statement released Wednesday, 19 members of Checks & Balances—a "group that describes itself as lawyers "who would traditionally be considered conservative or libertarian"—criticized Trump for his behavior in this election and pledged to protect the mail-in ballot process.

"The President shows his continuing contempt for the rule of law by seeking to prematurely declare himself the winner in the election, end the vote count, and thus disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters," the statement read. "The election is not over until every legal ballot is counted, and our State officials responsible for conducting the election will not allow any candidate to steal the election."

The group added that it was "prepared to defend the validity of lawfully authorized absentee and mail-in ballots, and we call on other lawyers to do the same."

Checks & Balances was formed in 2018 in reaction to Trump's presidency. The group, which includes many former Republican administration lawyers, was organized by George Conway, the husband of former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.

Donald Ayer, a signatory of the statement and a former deputy attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, told Newsweek that the statement is a "culmination" of the group's mission these past two years.

"At the end of the day, you can't have a government where someone says, 'I'm in charge and you don't get to vote and have a say and have your votes counted," Ayer said.

As of early Wednesday evening, the presidential race remained too close to call. But Democratic nominee Joe Biden is now just one state away from winning the Electoral College after the Associated Press called Michigan in his favor at 6 p.m. Eastern time. The call put Biden at 264 electoral votes, compared with Trump's 214.

With millions of ballots yet to be counted, Trump falsely asserted Wednesday that he won Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. His campaign is filing lawsuits to stop vote counting in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

"We have filed suit today in the Michigan Court of Claims 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," Bill Stepien, Trump's campaign manager, said Wednesday.

In Pennsylvania, the campaign said it is moving to intervene in a Supreme Court case related to that state's extension of its mail-in-ballot receipt deadline. In the interim, the campaign has filed suit to temporarily halt the ballot counting, citing a lack of "transparency."

Biden, meanwhile, has repeatedly emphasized that the counting should continue in all states.

"Here the people rule. Power can't be taken or asserted, it flows from the people. It is their will that determines who will be the president of the United States and their will alone," the former vice president said during a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday.