At the same time as similar rallies across the country, a Count Every Vote demonstration was held outside the Bucks County Administration where the Board of Elections was tallying ballots on Wednesday afternoon.
The planned rally came after President Donald Trump’s campaign began declaring victory in Pennsylvania before enough votes that could give a clearer picture of where things were headed had been counted. The president declared himself the winner of the election early Wednesday morning and later called to stop counting votes across the country as he began to see vote numbers shift away from his campaign.
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Bucks County officials have committed to counting all votes. They have been tallying in-person and mail-in and absentee ballots nonstop since election day 8 p.m.
“Before all the votes were counted, we heard the chilling words of the president of the United States declaring himself the winner of this election. That is not how democracy works or what it looks like,” a speaker told the group.
“We demand that every single vote be counted because that is what democracy looks like,” said Patrice Tisdale, an attorney and member of the Bucks County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
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During her speech, Tisdale cited the struggles by people of color and immigrants to gain the ability to vote in the country.
She said counting all legally cast ballots is important to make everyone’s voice count.
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“We can not and will not allow every single vote not to be counted,” she said.
Patrick Murphy, the former Democratic congressman and former undersecretary of the U.S. Army from Bristol, told the group that votes matter and that all should be counted.
“Every voice and every vote matters,” the military veteran said.
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He said unfounded claims of widespread problems with votes in Pennsylvania were being fanned by Trump campaign officials “because they can’t stand that the people have spoken.”
Rev. Angela Vann, the organizer for interfaith organization POWER, said making sure all the votes were recorded was a moral struggle for the country.
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“You see, there is a thing called the Constitution. It started with a preamble that ‘we the people of the United States,’ not ‘we some of the people,’” she said.
Vann said all voters – from military members to senior citizens – should have their votes counted.
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On Thursday afternoon, the group gathered again at the county seat calling for all votes to the counted.
The event was put on by a number of area groups who have opposed Trump.
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