(Bloomberg) -- A federal appeals court rejected an emergency request by Montana Republicans to halt the automatically mailing of absentee ballots to all registered voters in the state.
The San Francisco-based appeals court on Tuesday denied the request to stay pending appeal a Sept. 30 order allowing the mailing to proceed. In that ruling, U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen in Helena, Montana, rejected as “fiction” claims by Republicans that mail-in voting will lead to widespread ballot fraud.
Though Republican-leaning Montana is expected to the vote for President Donald Trump by a substantial margin, the U.S. Senate race in the state between term-limited Democratic Governor Steve Bullock and Republican incumbent Steve Daines is a close one and could help determine which party controls the chamber next year.
Trump and the Republican National Committee have used allegations of voter fraud to try to block similar plans for mailing ballots or applications in several states, including Nevada, where a judge dismissed the campaign's suit due to a lack of evidence. The claim is part of a broader effort led by Trump to cast doubt on the security of mail-in ballots.
Read More: Trump's Voter Fraud Claims Are ‘Fiction,' Montana Judge Says
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