WILLIAMSPORT – A new lawsuit from President Donald Trump’s campaign alleges that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania did not use uniform election procedures statewide, thereby creating an unconstitutional and “two-track” ballot counting system that gave the win to President-Elect Joe Biden.
According to the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania before Judge Matthew W. Brann, the Trump campaign is seeking to prevent the certification of the Presidential Election results in Pennsylvania.
The suit was filed against Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar and the Boards of Elections of the following seven counties: Allegheny, Centre, Chester, Delaware, Philadelphia, Montgomery and Northampton.
It claims that observers were not permitted to witness the counting of over 682,000 votes in heavily-Democratic Philadelphia and Allegheny counties, and further seeks the dismissal of mail-in ballots which the campaign says were allowed to be cured, despite being defective.
“Through the arbitrary and illegal actions of the Secretary, Pennsylvania created a two-track system of voting resulting in voters being treated differently depending on how they chose to exercise their franchise,” the suit states.
“The first, marked by voters appearing personally at the polls complied with transparency and verifiability requirements of Pennsylvania Election Code. The second, marked by a mass of paper ballots received through the mail, was cloaked in darkness and complied with none of those transparency and verifiability requirements. This two-track election system not only violates plaintiffs’ rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution, but also violates the structure of the Constitution that elections in the states must be carried out as directed by their respective legislatures.”
Despite being the projected loser of Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes last Saturday, the Trump campaign asserts that the granting of its requested actions by the Court could lead to the president winning the state.
“Voters in Pennsylvania were held to different standards simply based on how they chose to cast their ballot, and we believe this two-tiered election system resulted in potentially fraudulent votes being counted without proper verification or oversight, as well as many voters being disenfranchised simply for casting their votes in-person,” said Matt Morgan, general counsel for the Trump campaign.
“We will not stop fighting for transparency and integrity in our electoral process and ensuring all Americans can trust in the results of a free and fair election.”
The Trump campaign is already embroiled in a number of lawsuits concerning the ballot submission and counting process in Pennsylvania, with one arguing that “meaningful observers” were not allowed closely enough to the counting process of mail-in ballots at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Though Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Stella Tsai first threw out the Trump campaign’s claims in this regard, an appeal of the matter to the Commonwealth Court was successful on Nov. 5 – with Judge P. Kevin Brobson agreeing that observers should be allowed within six feet of the counting process, as long as safety protocols for COVID-19 were being followed.
The matter is currently under adjudication in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Regarding the instant case, the Trump campaign specifically points to observers being placed too far away from the ballot-counting process in Allegheny and Philadelphia counties, areas which have far greater numbers of Democratic voters than other areas in Pennsylvania.
“Allegheny and Philadelphia counties conducted the canvassing and tabulation in convention center rooms and placed observers far away from the action. In the case of Philadelphia County, when an emergency order was issued requiring them to provide meaningful access to representatives, Philadelphia failed to comply,” the suit says.
“As evidenced by numerous sworn statements, defendants’ egregious misconduct has included ignoring legislative mandates concerning mail-in ballots – which amounted to over 2.6 million of the approximately 6.75 million votes in Pennsylvania – including the mandate that mail-in ballots be post-marked on or before Election Day, and critically, preventing plaintiff’s poll watchers from observing the receipt, review, opening, and tabulation of mail-in ballots. Those mail-in ballots are evaluated on an entirely parallel track to those ballots cast in person.”
The suit also targeted actions taken by some counties statewide to allow voters to cure mail-in ballots which were procedurally defective, such as those featuring a missing signature or secrecy envelope, either through advising voters to correct their defective ballots or by opting to vote provisionally instead.
The suit adds these tactics were only used in Democratic-leaning areas of Pennsylvania and were not utilized in those which favored Republicans.
Currently, litigation in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has resulted in the segregation of such contested provisional ballots, pending a judge’s ruling.
In a statement issued Saturday, Gov. Tom Wolf commended election workers statewide for their performance in the Presidential Election.
“Thank you to the election officials who have administered a fair, free and open election during an incredibly challenging period in our commonwealth and country's history,” Wolf said.
“Our election workers have been under constant attack and they have performed admirably and honorably. Any attempts now or in the future to undermine our elections and subvert the will of Pennsylvanians must be categorically rejected.”
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania case 4:20-cv-02078
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com