HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania judge on Wednesday sided with Donald Trump's campaign and agreed to extend an in-person voting option in a suburban Philadelphia county where long lines on the final day led to complaints voters were being disenfranchised by an unprepared election office.
Judge Jeffrey Trauger said in a one-page order that Bucks County voters who want to apply for an early mail ballot now have until Friday. The narrowly divided county, which is led by Democrats, is often seen as a political bellwether.
The Trump campaign's lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday morning, comes amid a flurry of litigation and complaints over voting in a battleground state that is expected to play a central role in helping select the next president in 2024's election.
The lawsuit sought a one-day extension, through Wednesday at 5 p.m., for Bucks County voters to apply in person for a mail-in ballot, a method referred to as on-demand mail voting in Pennsylvania. The judge's order permits applications through the close of business on Friday.
Bucks County officials said they're “pleased to be able to offer additional days for those who are still seeking to vote on-demand."
Trump and Republicans cast the ruling as a win.
"Today’s ruling really is kind of a victory for making sure Pennsylvanians are going to have a secure and orderly process,” Bill McGinley, an attorney for the Republican National Committee and Trump campaign.
Neighboring Lehigh County on Tuesday asked a judge to extend the deadline there by one day, through Wednesday, because road closures in downtown Allentown around Trump's rally blocked access to the elections office. The judge agreed.
In Bucks County, the Trump campaign lawsuit said people who were in line by Tuesday's 5 p.m. deadline to apply in person for a mail ballot should have been allowed to get a ballot, even after the deadline. However, Bucks County's election office denied voters that right and ordered them to leave, the lawsuit said.
“This is a direct violation of Pennsylvanians’ rights to cast their ballot — and all voters have a right to STAY in line,” the Trump campaign said in a statement.
The Republican National Committee and the campaign of Republican Senate nominee David McCormick joined the lawsuit.
In 2020, Bucks went for President Joe Biden, 52-47, when he carried the state. Four years earlier, Hillary Clinton won Bucks by a point, 49-48, when Trump won Pennsylvania.
Gov. Josh Shapiro's administration had urged counties to allow every voter who was in line by the 5 p.m. deadline to submit a mail-in ballot application. Responding to criticism and misinformation on social media Tuesday, Bucks County had said every voter in line by 5 p.m. Tuesday would be allowed to apply for a mail ballot.
Pennsylvania does not allow early voting on voting machines in polling places, as some states do.
But Bucks County, like other counties in Pennsylvania, allows voters to apply for a mail-in ballot in person at the elections office and receive it there, a time-consuming process strained to the limit by Trump's exhortations to his supporters to get out and vote before Tuesday's deadline. Voters can also fill it out and hand it in at the office.
Voters waited up to three hours on Tuesday. Those still in line at 5 p.m. were told to go home, the lawsuit said.
In neighboring Lehigh County, a steady stream of voters took advantage of the one-day extension Wednesday, descending to the basement office of the voter registration office in Allentown to apply for a mail-in ballot, fill it out and turn it in. County elections workers explained the process as voters stepped into a crowded hallway.
“There are wonderful reps here who are telling everybody what to do, how to do it. It’s moving smoothly. I’m excited to be here,” Jeanne Birosik, a Republican voter, said as she waited for elections workers to prepare her mail ballot.
Birosik typically votes on Election Day, but in 2020, she said, she showed up to her polling place and was incorrectly told she’d already voted. She filled out a provisional ballot that time, but didn’t want to leave anything to chance for this election.
“This just seemed like a safer way to go about it,” she said.
Her husband, Chris Birosik, 62, who was also there to vote, said they didn’t consider dropping their ballots in the mail weeks ago — too risky, in his view.
“I just feel more confident that we get it in and do it this way,” he said.
The early voting angst in Bucks County is the latest dustup over voting in Pennsylvania, which has the largest trove of electoral votes of any battleground state and is by far the state most visited by the Democratic and Republican presidential tickets this year. The runup to Election Day in the state has been marked by numerous battles over mail ballots, some landing on the doorstep of the U.S. Supreme Court.
In Erie County, where more than 40,000 people requested early mail ballots, Democrats raised concerns in a lawsuit Wednesday that thousands of voters were still waiting for them. The suit also alleged that some 1,800 ballots were lost due to postal problems and that about 300 people received two ballots, some of them for the wrong races.
To address the problems, the county has agreed to extend voter registration hours and help voters file provisional ballots at the polls on Tuesday. A hearing was meanwhile set for Thursday in state court.
“We just want to make sure that we don’t have a continuation of the problem by overloading the system with provisional ballots,” said Clifford Levine, counsel for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. “I think everybody wants everybody’s vote to count.”
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Associated Press reporters Michael Rubinkam in Allentown, Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this story.
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Follow Marc Levy at twitter.com/timelywriter.
Marc Levy, The Associated Press
