President Donald Trump’s campaign filed a lawsuit on Monday to prevent Pennsylvania officials from notarizing the tables for the state’s presidential election.
Republicans have claimed that Trump campaign observers were not given proper access to the areas where the ballots were counted. During his campaign, Trump warned that increased use of postal ballots could lead to election fraud. On Saturday, President-elect Joe Biden was hailed as the winner in Pennsylvania by the Associated Press and major television stations. Trump did not cede the election to Biden and has taken legal action in several contested states, including Pennsylvania.
The suit filed against Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar and the electoral boards in seven counties of Pennsylvania alleges that the defendants “so mismanaged the election process that no one-not the voters and not President Trump’s campaign-can have any faith that their most sacred and fundamental rights under the United States Constitution will be protected.
“The evidence is clear that the defendants have flagrantly violated and continue to violate the protections and procedural rules, including those enacted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, which are essential to ensure that the votes of the citizens of Pennsylvania are not unlawfully diluted by invalid ballots and that the election is free and fair,” the complaint continued.
According to the complaint, Pennsylvania has “created a two-tier voting system that results in voters being treated differently depending on how they choose to exercise their voting rights.
The complaint alleges that representatives of the Trump campaign were not given sufficient access to observe the tabulation process in some polling centers.
“The observers were kept away from the area where the checking, opening and counting took place by security personnel and a metal barricade,” the complaint stated, making it “physically impossible” for the observers to see the ballots.
Other allegations in the complaint concerned the inclusion in the ballot table of ballots received after the deadline. Ballots received in unsuitable envelopes and ballots completed by voters who did not request them were also allegedly included.
Washington Newsday turned to the Pennsylvania State Department for comment.
Trump blamed the tabulation of the ballots for his likely loss of Biden. “If you count the legal votes, I win easily,” Trump said during a press conference on Thursday. “If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us.”
“I have made it very clear that postal voting will be a disaster in the end,” Trump added. Some observers have claimed that Trump’s allegations of election fraud are unfounded.
Trump’s campaign has also filed suit in Michigan, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada for alleged irregularities in the election process.
