The fate of a small number of the roughly 164,000 mail-in and absentee ballots submitted is in the hands of the Bucks County judge.
After a Tuesday morning pre-hearing conference and an hours-long afternoon hearing at the Bucks County Justice Center in Doylestown Borough, Judge Robert Baldi said he would render a decision in the coming days on the petition filed last week by Donald J. Trump for President Inc., Garrity for PA, and Heidelbaugh for Attorney General Inc.
Advertisements
Outside the Justice Center during the hearing were a small group of activists from Rise Up Doylestown with signs reading “Every Vote Counts,” “My Vote is my Voice,” and “Count Every Vote.”
Britain Henry, of Goldstein Law Partners, told the judge that the Trump campaign would be the only petitioner that would continue the challenge to the ballots.
The Trump campaign sought in a petition last week to invalidate a little more than 2,000 ballots that it stated were defective under the state election code. The ballots may have not had their outer envelope properly filled out or had unsealed privacy envelops or markings, but they were accepted by the Bucks County Board of Elections after a review.
Advertisements
Jessica VanderKam, the attorney for the Board of Elections, explained to the court that ballots with major defects or ones that could not be explained by election officials were invalidated, but minor errors that did not appear nefarious were accepted.
Attorneys for the Democratic National Committee, Bucks County Democratic Committee, and PA House Democratic Committee argued in court that the ballots should be counted.
Advertisements
Henry, who noted he was “not heartless,” said his client was calling for the ballots with alleged defects to be thrown out. He said there was “clear and unequivocal language” for ballot declarations that were completed by voters.
Matthew Gordon, an attorney representing the national Democratic party, said the Trump campaign’s request of the court would “disenfranchised voters” who made simple mistakes on their ballots but followed the spirit of the election code.
The Trump campaign’s lawyer said in an agreed upon stipulation that there was no evidence of fraud, misconduct, impropriety, and undue influence in Bucks County’s election. The statement is at odds with the president and his team’s allegations that there was widespread fraud and that is why he gained less votes than former Vice President Joe Biden.
Advertisements
In court on Tuesday, all sides agreed that there were authorized representatives and observers from both parties allowed to watch the vote count in Bucks County.
More than 395,500 votes were counted within the county during the election. The unofficial results, which were pre-certified Tuesday, had Biden with 17,000 more votes than Trump.
Advertisements
Across Pennsylvania, Biden bested Trump by tens of thousands of votes. Final certified results by counties are due to the state next week.
The leaders of Bucks County’s Democratic and Republican parties said the election was “fair, transparent, and accountable.”
Advertisements
Statewide, the Trump campaign has been unable to prove allegations of fraud in the election process as of Tuesday night.
Baldi said he planned to issue a decision “very quickly” due to the time constraints on certifying votes.
Advertisements
“I’ve appreciated the respectful way you’ve treated each other,” he said to all the attorneys.
Report a correction via email | Editorial standards and policies
