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Ohio AG Files Brief In Texas Election Lawsuit, But Not To Stop Biden's Win

By Karen Kasler

Published December 11, 2020 at 8:02 PM EST

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, at a press conference in his office in February 2020. [Karen Kasler] — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, at a press conference in his office in February 2020.

Ohio’s Republican attorney general is joining in part of the lawsuit Texas has filed against Pennsylvania. But he's not asking for results in four battleground states that Democratic President-elect Joe Biden won to be thrown out — which is what some Republicans were hoping for.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost instead wants the court to rule on a clause that says state legislatures set the rules for the Electoral College, not governors or judges, according to a statement.

He also tweeted:

I asked SCOTUS to rule on the Electors Clause question presented in Texas’s lawsuit. It is unconstitutional for judges and bureaucrats to change the rules set by state legislatures for selecting electors. pic.twitter.com/DWPAMc5pzE
— Attorney General Dave Yost (@Yost4Ohio) December 10, 2020

That is in line with Yost’s filing in a dismissed Pennsylvania case about absentee ballots.

Ohio State University election law professor Ned Foley said the new filing could settle a long-standing question about who sets election rules.

"I think Attorney General Yost has a point about the need for clarity on this general proposition," Foley said. "I don’t think this Texas case is the right vehicle to decide the broader question."

The lawsuit is widely considered a longshot lawsuit by President Donald Trump's campaign. Foley said he thinks it's likely to be dismissed.

While Yost did file the brief in support of the court making a call on the so-called Electors Clause, he disagreed with Texas’ call to halt the Electoral College vote on Monday.

“Federal courts, just like state courts, lack authority to change the legislatively chosen method for appointing presidential electors. And so federal courts, just like state courts, lack authority to order legislatures to appoint electors without regard to the results of an already-completed election," Yost wrote in his statement.

Yost was asked to join 17 other Republican AGs from states Trump won in a letter signed by 42 Ohio House Republican lawmakers.