The Trump campaign scored its first legal victory amid the undecided election aftermath plagued with delayed mail-in vote counts and too-close-to-call results.
“In a major victory for election integrity, election transparency, all Pennsylvania voters, and the rule of law, the Trump Campaign has prevailed in our suit challenging our Republican poll watchers’ complete lack of any meaningful access to the ballot processing and counting process,” Trump campaign lawyer Justin Clark said in an email to American Military News.
The Trump campaign had sued Pennsylvania, alleging that their vote count observers were denied close enough access to oversee ballot processing. Although the initial court denied the challenge, a judge who oversaw the appeal decided to allow observers closer access to the count.
The judge’s decision ordered “’all candidates, watchers, or candidate representatives’ shall ‘be permitted to be present for the canvassing process’ and ‘be permitted to observe all aspects of the canvassing process within 6 feet, while adhering to all COVID-19 protocols, including, wearing masks and maintaining social distancing,’” the Trump campaign said.
The Trump campaign had said on Wednesday that they expected to win Pennsylvania by a significant margin.
“We are declaring a victory in Pennsylvania. This is not based on gut. It’s based on math,” Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said during a press call on Wednesday.
As of Thursday afternoon, approximately 88 percent of the votes were counted in Pennsylvania. Trump had a lead of 114,000 votes, but approximately 550,000 votes remained uncounted.
Some 29,000 ballots remained in Allegheny County – home to Pittsburgh – and could not be counted before 5 p.m. on Friday per a federal court order.
Another 6,800 ballots were delayed over “other issues” such as damage, missing date, or being cast by an illegible voter.
