Election results: Trump campaign loses 5 more cases in Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling



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The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued opinions on Monday dismissing five lawsuits brought by the Trump campaign to invalidate 8,329 ballots cast in the 2020 presidential competition on technical grounds.

Three judges wrote by the majority that “no allegations of fraud or illegality” were raised during the examination of the ballots.

SEE ALSO: Pennsylvania election: Trump appeals rejection of candidacy to block certification of votes

“Failure to include a name, address or handwritten date in the voter declaration on the back of the outer envelope, while constituting technical violations of the electoral code, does not justify the total deprivation of the right to vote. vote of thousands of Pennsylvania voters, ”Judge Christine L. Donohue wrote for the majority.

Two other judges joined Donohue, while other members of the tribunal provided separate opinions. In a separate opinion, Judge David N. Wecht wrote that while he agrees that technically defective ballots should be counted this year, he does not believe that the lack of a date on the declaration “should be overlooked as a “minor irregularity” “.

SEE ALSO: Federal agency clears start of official presidential transition for Biden

Wecht wrote: “In future elections I would consider the date and signature to be mandatory … with the omission of one or the other element that is no more sufficient to invalidate the ballot in question.”

Wecht concluded his concurring and dissenting opinion with “the hope that the General Assembly sees fit to refine and clarify the Election Code” in the future.

In a concurring and dissenting second opinion, Judge Kevin M. Dougherty, accompanied by Chief Justice Thomas G. Saylor and Judge Sallie Updyke Mundy, wrote that the judges agreed that defective ballots should be counted this year and that missing ballots “fill in” information, such as printed name or address, should not be voided due to technical faults. However, Justice Dougherty observed that “the terms ‘date’ and ‘sign’ – which have been included by the legislature – are obvious” and that they “do not view the absence of a date as a mere technical deficiency. can overlook. “

The court also ruled on a similar and separate challenge launched by a Republican candidate for the Allegheny County Senate, challenging 2,349 ballots. The court also rejected this request.

The 10,678 ballots will count for the 2020 election.

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