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Pirkle v. Wolf
Deposit: November 10
Claim: Four voters sought to prevent all votes in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware and Allegheny counties from being included in the state total, claiming the state violated the right to equal protection by allowing practices number of absentees different between counties.
Ahead of the election, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar informed county election officials that “healing” missing ballots (the term for correcting errors like a missing signature) was allowed but not required. As a result, local practices differed to some extent. This lawsuit claims it was unconstitutional to allow some voters in Philadelphia, but not all, to cure their ballots. The lawsuit also cites Delaware County for allegedly giving ballots in person to voters who were recorded as having received ballots in the mail without asking them to sign the ballot register. In Allegheny County, according to the complaint, voters were required to vote provisionally when records showed they requested a postal vote but did not.
The context: The electoral system in the United States is highly decentralized and gives considerable authority to state and county officials over how to conduct elections. As a result, it is common for states to allow certain variations in local electoral practices and allow voters to vote provisionally in various circumstances.
Status: On Thursday evening, the law firm representing the Trump campaign, Porter Wright, asked to step down. Previously, the plaintiffs asked Judge Matthew Brann of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania to consolidate this case with the following one below.
Donald J. Trump for President v. Boockvar
Deposit: November 9
Claim: The Trump campaign seeks to block the certification of elections in Pennsylvania, alleging fraud in postal voting, insufficient access for poll observers and varying procedures to cure ballots between different counties.
Plaintiffs said “heavy Democratic” counties allowed voters to heal their mail-order votes, unlike “heavy Republican” counties. They also said ballots were being processed in Allegheny County and Philadelphia as poll watchers were too far away to see what was going on.
The context: On polling day, Republican lawyers admitted in court that party observers were present at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia at the time of the vote count. “I’m sorry, so what’s your problem?” Asked Judge Paul S. Diamond of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He granted modest accommodation, ordering the city’s election commission to allow poll observers to come close to the count.
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