“It would require halting the certification of results in a state election in which millions of people have voted,” the judge said. “It would interfere with an election after the voting was done.”

The judge also seemed to allude to the acrimonious atmosphere surrounding the election as a reason to be wary about interfering in the process as Wood requested.

“It harms the public interest in countless ways, particularly in the environment in which this election occurred,” Grimberg said. “To halt the certification at literally the 11th hour would breed confusion and potentially disenfranchisement that I find has no basis in fact or in law.”

Much of Wood’s suit complained about a consent decree, reached in March, that requires officials to try to contact a voter before disqualifying a mail-in ballot because of a signature that does not appear to match the one on file.

However, Russ Willard, a lawyer in the Georgia attorney general’s office, said there was no legitimate reason for Wood to come to court eight months later to object to that widely publicized deal.

“Plaintiff attempts to change the rules at the end of the game in order to alter the score,” Willard said

Grimberg agreed on that account, too, saying that the unreasonable delay cut against Wood’s request for a restraining order. But the judge’s ruling did offer a glimmer of hope for Trump backers. He said he might have viewed the suit differently if it had been brought by the Trump campaign itself or even by the Republican Party.

“Neither the Republican Party nor the Trump campaign nor any other candidate has joined this lawsuit,” the judge said. “That certainly would have changed the analysis when it comes to standing.”

Wood quickly vowed an appeal, but Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani has also signaled that the campaign may file its own federal lawsuit in Georgia as soon as Friday.

Some of the claims Wood put forward as evidence of fraud or malfeasance during the hearing on Thursday seemed to disintegrate under close scrutiny.

Wood’s attorney Ray Smith said that the percentage of mail-in votes rejected by election officials dropped sharply in the recent election, suggesting that authorities were overlooking fraud and errors now that would have been caught in the past.

But Willard said the change reflected the fact that after elections in 2018, the Georgia Legislature eliminated some requirements for absentee ballots, including the rule that such voters had to write their dates of birth on the return envelope. Many were reluctant to do that for privacy reasons, so they left it blank, he said. This year, there was no such requirement, so those rejections were not an issue.

An audit of the election results that officials completed on Thursday led to Trump closing the gap with Biden by about 2,000 votes, but still outside of striking range.

The Trump campaign did score a modest win in Pennsylvania on Thursday evening as a state appeals court panel ruled, 2-1, in favor of a Republican candidate’s bid to disqualify 2,349 mail-in ballots in the Pittsburgh area that lacked a date next to the voter’s signature.

That ruling could be appealed further to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. If upheld, it could lower Biden’s vote total, but doesn’t seem like a path for Trump to overcome the roughly 81,000-vote lead that Biden has in the state.

OAKLAND, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered California into a statewide curfew, escalating his response to rapidly rising coronavirus numbers.

More than 94 percent of Californians must remain in their homes between 10 p.m and 5 a.m. unless performing essential activities. The requirement applies to the 41 counties that have landed in the state’s most restrictive tier due to wide coronavirus spread.

“The virus is spreading at a pace we haven’t seen since the start of this pandemic and the next several days and weeks will be critical to stop the surge. We are sounding the alarm,” Newsom said in a statement. “It is crucial that we act to decrease transmission and slow hospitalizations before the death count surges. We’ve done it before and we must do it again.”

The curfew will start Saturday night at 10 p.m. and last until 5 a.m. on Dec. 21, more than a full month. To explain the curfew, Newsom’s statement essentially said higher spread occurs during activities fueled by inebriation and late night antics.

“Activities conducted during 10 PM to 5 AM are often non-essential and more likely related to social activities and gatherings that have a higher likelihood of leading to reduced inhibition and reduced likelihood for adherence to safety measures like wearing a face covering and maintaining physical distance,” the statement said.

Even before Newsom issued the order, local law enforcement vowed to defy it. Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said in a statement Thursday afternoon that he would not enforce “any health or emergency orders related to curfews, staying at home, Thanksgiving or other social gatherings inside or outside the home, maximum occupancy, or mask mandates.”

The order will likely deepen resentment among those opposed to Newsom’s efforts to reimpose tough measures to contain the virus. Assemblymember Devon Mathis (R-Visalia) excoriated Newsom for a “huge overreach,” especially considering a vaccine is on the horizon.

“They’re clearly targeting people having parties,” Mathis said.

The directive appears to prohibit people from different households from spending time together past 10 p.m., even at a private residence. It does not apply to people who are homeless. The order was formally issued Thursday by Acting State Public Health Officer Erica S. Pan.

It exempts trips to grocery stores, pharmacies and food retailers, as well as workers performing essential functions, which range from health care to public safety.

Virtually the entire state now lives in a county that must adhere to the toughest level of guidelines, slamming the door on indoor dining, church services and various forms of commerce. All of Southern California and the Central Valley, plus most of the Bay Area, must adhere to the curfew.

Newsom and public health officials have warned the state is entering a perilous new phase and have urged against large gatherings during the coming holidays.

Los Angeles had already instituted a lighter curfew that ordered businesses to shut their doors between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. starting Friday. If cases breach the 4,500 per day threshold in the county, California’s largest, there are plans to clamp down further with a renewed stay-at-home order. Officials have also further limited the capacity of restaurants and retail shops and the size of social gatherings.

Newsom is tightening his state’s restrictions as he navigates a sustained firestorm of criticism over his decision to attend a birthday celebration for a top aide and lobbyist at the French Laundry, an elite fine dining destination. Executives from the California Medical Association joined.

The backlash has extended to Capitol Hill, where Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) mocked Newsom from the House floor on Thursday for ignoring his own “idiotic Covid edicts as he partied at one of the few restaurants that’s not yet been forced out of business.” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told a POLITICO reporter that Newsom had “lost a lot of credibility.”