Trump campaign wins case to disqualify Pa. mail-in ballots with late-arriving ID byMick Stinelli
The Trump campaign on Thursday won a case attempting to disqualify mail-in ballots for Pennsylvania voters whose identification was confirmed after Nov. 9.
These ballots had been segregated pending the judge’s decision and have not yet been counted, so their disqualification will not affect the current vote count in Pennsylvania.
Commonwealth Court President Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt ruled that Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar lacked authority when she issued guidance to county boards of election to count mail ballots so long as voters’ IDs were confirmed by Nov. 12.
Ms. Boockvar argued to the court that the guidance came from a provision in the commonwealth’s election code that allows voters to prove their identities “within six calendar days following the election.” Because the Pennsylvania Supreme Court extended the ballot deadline to Nov. 6, then the deadline for voters to confirm their ID would also be extended.
But the Trump campaign disagreed. “If the deadline is calculated as the statute is written, then as it pertains to the November 3, 2020 General Election, this deadline for voters to resolve proof of identification issues is Monday, November 9, 2020, not November 12, 2020,” the campaign wrote in a filing.
It is not clear how many mail-in and absentee ballots fall into this category, and the Pennsylvania Department of State did not immediately reply to inquiries into the number of ballots that will be affected.
Mick Stinelli: mstinelli@post-gazette.com; 412-263-1869; and on Twitter: @MickStinelli
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