SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes announced on Wednesday that Utah has joined an amicus brief in support of the Texas petition to the United States Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of the election process.

"Because all Americans need clarity and confidence in our national elections, I have joined the amicus brief supporting the petition of Texas and urge the Supreme Court to address this issue once and for all," Reyes said in a statement on Wednesday.

Shortly thereafter, Gov. Gary Herbert and Gov.-elect Spencer Cox released a joint statement expressing disapproval of Reyes' decision to joining the amicus brief.

"The Attorney General did not consult us before signing on to this brief, so we don't know what his motivation is," their statement reads. "Just as we would not want other states challenging Utah's election results, we do not think we should intervene in other states' elections. Candidates who wish to challenge election results have access to the courts without our involvement. This is an unwise use of taxpayers' money."

The lawsuit was filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday in the Supreme Court against Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin. The lawsuit argued that the election results in these key states should be invalidated due to fraud and irregularities that took place due to the expansion of voting rules due to COVID-19. Texas asked the Supreme Court to immediately block the four states from using the voting results to appoint presidential electors to the Electoral College.

President-elect Joe Biden secured 306 electoral votes projecting him as the winner of 2020 presidential election. Trump is set to receive 232 electoral votes. Biden also won the popular vote with a record 81,282,903 or 51.4%.

Some of the allegations against the four states in the amicus brief lists include claims of fraud being exacerbated through mail-in voting, safeguards against fraud being eliminated by the states, abolishing signature verification, insecure ballot handling, and extending the deadline to receive absentee and mail-in ballots.

The amicus brief was signed by 17 general attorneys in the states of Missouri, Alabama, Nebraska, Arkansas, North Dakota, Florida, Oklahoma, Indiana, South Carolina, Kansas, South Dakota, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Montana, West Virginia and Utah.

President Trump applauded the 17 states who signed onto the brief on Wednesday tweeting: "Wow! At least 17 States have joined Texas in the extraordinary case against the greatest Election Fraud in the history of the United States. Thank you!"

The Associated Press reports that out of roughly 50 lawsuits filed, more than 35 have been dropped or dismissed. Michigan's Supreme Court declined to hear an election fraud lawsuit on Wednesday, issuing an opinion that entertaining arguments on the topic would only "prolong the uncertainty over the legal status of this election's outcome."

On Dec. 1 Attorney General William Barr in an interview with AP said that the U.S. Justice Department has uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the outcome of the 2020 election.

Reyes previously spent a weekend in Nevada reviewing alleged voter irregularities. In a statement, Reyes stated that the Supreme Court should render a judgment of the constitutionality of the election to solve questions on the integrity of the election.

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After spending the weekend in Nevada reviewing alleged voting irregularities, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes says there are legitimate concerns that need to be examined and possibly remedied.

"This case is not only about one candidate or election cycle, as important as the may be, but the fairness of all elections — current and future. It is about assuring the process is fair and uniform today and becomes so or remains so tomorrow," Reyes said in his statement.

Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson issued a statement Wednesday opposing Reyes' involvement in the lawsuit.

"I am disheartened to see that Attorney General Sean Reyes continues to politicize an election that has now been decided for weeks," Wilson said. "Right now is an opportunity for us to work together, across party lines to address issues of real concern. Our health systems are in crisis, so many lives have been lost, and our community is shaken. The last thing we need is more gamesmanship and manipulation from elected officials using public resources to perpetuate partisan schemes. We have all had enough."

Reyes's actions have additionally drawn criticism from Alliance for a Better Utah.

"The basis of American democracy is that the people pick their leaders, leaders do not pick their voters. Sean Reyes' continued effort to delegitimize a democratic election—one the federal government has deemed the 'most secure in American history'—by throwing out people's votes is beyond the pale for a state attorney general," Chase Thomas, executive director for Alliance for a Better Utah said. "Escalating this partisan warfare to the Supreme Court can only be regarded as one final desperate Hail Mary in an attempt to maintain party control at the expense of the people. Sean Reyes' partisan backflips continue to show that he is unfit to be Utah's chief law enforcement officer. Utah leaders from all political parties should condemn his actions on behalf of our state."

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