The lawsuit comes amid swirling confusion around mail-in ballot timelines earlier this week.
The Bucks County Court of Common Pleas has ruled in favor of McCormick campaign and the RNC following a suit they brought alleging Bucks County illegally turned away voters from mail-in ballot locations.
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley had announced during the Trump rally in Allentown on Tuesday that the RNC was suing the Bucks County Election Board following reports that voters were being turned away from mail-in ballot drop-off locations.
“Folks, here’s what’s happening: Democrat election officials are seeing our numbers. They’re seeing our turnout. They are seeing us breaking early vote records across Pennsylvania. They are terrified. And they want to stop our momentum,” said RNC Chair Whatley during his speech. “We are not going to let them suppress our votes. We are going to fight.”
Prior to the rally, RNC co-chair Lara Trump quote tweeted a Pennsylvania Department of State message which said any voter in line at a county office by 5:00 PM would have an opportunity to fill out an application. Mrs. Trump emphasized to Republican voters that they should not get out of line.
The lawsuit comes amid controversy earlier this week following confusion around the hours of a Bucks County Election satellite office.
A website at the address vote.pa, run by long-time Democratic strategist J.J. Abbott, allegedly posted incorrect office hours for a Bucks County Elections satellite office. Voters who viewed the wrong office hour information ended up being turned away from the satellite office on Tuesday which caught the eye of the Trump campaign and officials at the RNC.
Judge Jeffrey G. Trauger of the Court of Common Pleas in Bucks issued an ‘order for special or preliminary injunction’ on Wednesday afternoon announcing the decision. According to judge Trauger the action of the Bucks County Board of Elections “violated the Pennsylvania Election Code,” and that anyone in Bucks County who wants to “apply for, receive, vote, and return a mail-in ballot” may do so until close of business on Friday, November 1st.
This is the latest voting issue to hit in southeast Pennsylvania. Earlier this week a Republican state committeewoman was arrested in Delaware County for alleged voter intimidation at a satellite voting office, and Trump supporters in Philadelphia received a letter claiming ‘consequences’ if they voted for Trump.
The mail-in ballot application period has passed as all applications needed to be received by Tuesday, October 29th. All voters with outstanding mail-in ballots must have them returned to their county board of elections by Tuesday, November 5th at 8:00 PM.
