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Trump campaign drops lawsuit in Arizona after Joe Biden's lead cannot be overcome

Arizona's latest ballot count on Thursday mathematically eliminated the president from winning the state.

PHOENIX — President Donald Trump's campaign has dropped its lawsuit in Arizona after learning that Joe Biden's margin of victory in the state cannot mathematically be overcome. 

Arizona's latest ballot count on Thursday mathematically eliminated the president from winning the state.

President-elect Biden holds a lead of more than 11,000 votes lead over Trump in Arizona with just 10,315 ballots left to count as of Thursday night. 

According to court documents, the campaign told the judge in the case that the "tabulation of votes statewide has rendered unnecessary a judicial ruling as to the presidential electors."

In a statement, the Biden campaign called the lawsuit "frivolous" and said the Trump campaign's motion to "withdraw any claims of relief related to the presidential campaign confirms that this was nothing more than a waste of time."

Attorneys for Maricopa County, the Arizona Secretary of State's Office and the Arizona Democrats clashed in an online courtroom on Tuesday with attorneys for Trump’s campaign over 180 votes.

Attorneys representing Donald J. Trump for President, the Republican National Committee, and the Arizona Republican Party filed a lawsuit on Saturday alleging thousands of in-person ballots cast on Election Day may have been disqualified or considered “overvotes," meaning the tabulation machine identified marks for more than one candidate. 

However, in court, attorneys representing Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and the Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes said the number of identified “overvotes” in the presidential race was far less -- at only 180 total.

The attorneys argued this small number “is not going to make one iota of difference” and “there is no possibility of systematic failure.”

A judge also denied a request made by the Trump campaign's attorney in another hearing Tuesday morning when the campaign requested that evidence of voter fraud be sealed in order to "protect identities of witnesses."

While the president continues to dispute the results of the election publicly, it appears his lawyers have accepted the results in Arizona.

With the 11 electoral votes in Arizona expected to go to Biden, it's the first time Arizona has voted for a Democrat in a presidential election since 1996 and a stunning blow for the Republican base that's called the state a stronghold for decades.

The Associated Press declared Biden the winner of Arizona’s 11 electoral votes on Nov. 4, but the race unexpectedly tightened substantially as the ballots continued to be counted.

Track all of our current updates with Arizona politics on our 12 News YouTube channel. Subscribe for updates on all of our new uploads.

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