An employee of the Philadelphia Commissioners Office asks a voter a series of COVID-19 health questions at a satellite election office before he is allowed to enter to deposit his ballot at Overbrook High School on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, in Philadelphia. The city of Philadelphia has opened several satellite election offices and more are slated to open in the coming weeks where voters can drop off their mail in ballots before Election Day. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)
The judge ruled that Pennsylvania law does not allow campaign representatives to observe in any election offices.
A judge on Friday rejected a bid by President Donald Trump’s campaign to force Philadelphia to allow campaign representatives to monitor people registering to vote or filling out mail-in ballots in election offices in a city repeatedly attacked by Trump as untrustworthy.
Judge Gary Glazer wrote in his 14-page opinion that Pennsylvania law does not allow such representatives to observe in election offices, a stance held by election lawyers, city officials and the state’s top elections official.
The lawsuit comes amid Trump claiming that he can only lose the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania if Democrats cheat and, as he did in 2016′s campaign, and suggesting that the Democratic bastion of Philadelphia needs to be watched closely for election fraud.
The Trump campaign filed the lawsuit last week, two days after Philadelphia opened seven satellite election offices, new creations deemed to be legal under state law by the state Supreme Court. There, people can register to vote, apply for a mail-in ballot, fill it out and turn it in.
Trump campaign employees promptly showed up at the offices, insisting they be allowed to go in and observe the activity inside. City election officials prevented them.
Trump referred to that confrontation in last week’s debate with Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, saying “bad things happen in Philadelphia.”
Author
Politics
How Project 2025 aims to ban abortion in Pennsylvania
Former president Donald Trump said abortion was a state’s rights issue recently, but conservative organizations, under the banner “Project 2025,”...
736,000 PA households could lose crucial help on their internet bills
Time is running out for the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides low-cost high speed internet access for over 736,000 Pennsylvania...
What to know about Trump’s legal issues
Over the past year, former president Donald Trump has become the center of not one, not two, not three, but four criminal investigations, at both...
Local News
Conjoined twins from Berks County die at age 62
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations,...
Railroad agrees to $600 million settlement for fiery Ohio derailment, residents fear it’s not enough
Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement for a fiery train derailment in February 2023 in eastern Ohio,...
