SACRAMENTO, Calif. >> A federal judge in Sacramento has rejected a challenge by so-called “birthers” seeking to halt the counting of Electoral College votes for President Barack Obama.

U.S. District Court Judge Morrison C. England on Thursday rejected a petition for a temporary restraining order filed by Orly Taitz, an attorney who has lost challenges in several states seeking to overturn Obama’s election.

In a motion filed last month, Taitz sought to stop Congress from counting the votes, scheduled for Friday. 

Officials in Hawaii have repeatedly verified Obama’s August 1961 birth and U.S. citizenship, and the White House released a copy of the president’s long-form birth certificate in 2011.

England said the case is unlikely to succeed, that the plaintiffs lacked standing and they failed to submit legal documents on time.