COLUMBUS, Ohio — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a story published on November 27, 2020.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Thursday filed an opposing brief against the current case of Texas v. Pennsylvania, which aims to call into question the results of Pennsylvania's final presidential election results.
Yost's brief specifically mentions the Electors Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which gives each state the right to set their own electors.
"Free and fair elections start with clear rules that don’t change right before the election," Yost wrote. "It is not unreasonable to wonder—and many millions of Americans do—whether those hastily implemented changes exposed the election systems to vulnerabilities."
In a statement released by the Attorney General's office, Yost dives into his belief that states shouldn't be able to change the rules of their own election in the eleventh hour, effectively blindsiding a state's citizens. Yost also claimed this creates a dangerous precedent for future elections.
"If there is anything more American than representative government, it is a firm conviction that the rules ought not be changed after the game has begun," Yost said.
Yost argued it is not within the Supreme Court's authority to attempt to overturn the results of any state elections.
"Federal courts, just like state courts, lack authority to change the legislatively chosen method for appointing presidential electors," he said. "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."
Texas vs. Pennsylvania, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, "asks the Court to order the legislatures in the defendant states to appoint a new set of electors for the Electoral College, and believes the time has come for the Court to make a definitive decision on how the Electors Clause should be interpreted." More than 100 GOP members of Congress--including Northeast Ohio's Bob Gibbs, Bill Johnson, and Jim Jordan--have signed on to an amicus brief supporting the controversial lawsuit.
Despite questions from other representatives and legislatures, Yost believes Ohio had a fair election in 2020.
"As Attorney General, I have successfully defended Ohio’s laws governing elections, and Ohio did not experience the chaos and uncertainty that other States did," he said. "I will continue to stand for the rule of law and with the people, their right to vote, and to have their vote counted."