Federal judge tosses Trump lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania’s ballot drop boxes

Federal judge tosses Trump lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania’s ballot drop boxes Ruling states that the president cannot prove that his hopes of winning the state on Nov. 3 have been or will be hurt by fraud; the campaign says it will appeal in bid to shield voters from ‘radical’ election system. The lawsuit rejected by U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan is one of many partisan battles being fought in the Pennsylvania statehouse and the courts over mail-in voting in the state, amid concerns that a presidential election result will hang in limbo for days on a drawn-out vote count in Pennsylvania. The lawsuit rejected by U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan is one of many partisan battles being fought in the Pennsylvania statehouse and the courts over mail-in voting in the state, amid concerns that a presidential election result will hang in limbo for days on a drawn-out vote count in Pennsylvania.(Matt Slocum) By The Associated Press 2:57 PM on Oct 10, 2020 HARRISBURG, Pa. — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Saturday threw out a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump’s campaign, dismissing its challenges to the battleground state’s poll-watching law and its efforts to limit how mail-in ballots can be collected and which of them can be counted. The ruling by U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan — who was appointed by Trump — in Pittsburgh also poured cold water on Trump’s claims that election fraud will work against him. Trump’s campaign said it would appeal at least one element of the decision, with barely three weeks to go until Election Day in a state hotly contested by Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The lawsuit was opposed by the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, the state Democratic Party, the League of Women Voters, the NAACP’s Pennsylvania office and other allied groups. “The court’s decision today affirms what we’ve long known, that Pennsylvania’s elections are safe, secure, and accurate, and residents can vote on Nov. 3rd with confidence that their votes will be counted and their voices heard,” Wolf’s office said in a written statement. “The ruling is a complete rejection of the continued misinformation about voter fraud and corruption, and those who seek to sow chaos and discord ahead of the upcoming election.” However, Trump’s campaign said in a statement that it looked forward to a quick decision from the appeals court “that will further protect Pennsylvania voters from the Democrats' radical voting system.” Helping others can make you happier and healthier: Here’s why SPONSORED CONTENT Helping others can make you happier and healthier: Here’s why Researchers have proven that being helpful to others releases dopamine — the “feel-good” chemical — in our brains and lights up the same... BY The Dallas Morning News Dallas County's mail-in ballot drop-off location is at 1520 Round Table Drive in Dallas. ELECTIONS Federal appeals court order again limits Texas counties to single mail-in ballot drop-off location BY CATHERINE MARFIN The lawsuit is one of many partisan battles being fought in the state Legislature and the courts over mail-in voting in Pennsylvania, amid concerns that a presidential election result will hang in limbo for days on a drawn-out vote count in Pennsylvania. In this case, Trump’s campaign wanted the court to bar counties from using drop boxes or mobile sites to collect mail-in ballots that are not “staffed, secured, and employed consistently within and across all 67 of Pennsylvania’s counties.” Trump’s campaign said it would appeal the matter of drop boxes. More than 20 counties — including Philadelphia and most other heavily populated Democratic-leaning counties — have told the state elections office that they plan to use drop boxes and satellite election offices to help collect the massive number of mail-in ballots they expect to receive. Trump’s campaign also wanted the court to free county election officials to disqualify mail-in ballots where the voter’s signature may not match their signature on file and to remove a county residency requirement in state law for certified poll watchers. In guidance last month, Wolf’s top elections official told counties that state law does not require or permit them to reject a mail-in ballot solely over a perceived signature inconsistency. Trump’s campaign had asked Ranjan to declare that guidance unconstitutional and to block counties from following it. President Donald Trump gestures to a crowd of supporters from the Blue Room Balcony of the White House on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. POLITICS Trump, 9 days after COVID-19 diagnosis, hosts outdoor White House rally BY TODD J. GILLMAN In throwing out the case, Ranjan wrote that the Trump campaign could not prove their central claim: that Trump’s fortunes in the Nov. 3 election in Pennsylvania are threatened by election fraud and that adopting the changes the campaign sought changes will fix that. Ranjan wrote Trump’s campaign could not prove that the president has been hurt by election fraud or even that he is likely to be hurt by fraud. “While plaintiffs may not need to prove actual voter fraud, they must at least prove that such fraud is ‘certainly impending,”’ Ranjan wrote. “They haven’t met that burden. At most, they have pieced together a sequence of uncertain assumptions.” Ranjan also cited decisions in recent days by the U.S. Supreme Court and the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in hot-button election cases, saying he should not second-guess decisions by state lawmakers and election officials. The decision comes as Trump claims he can only lose the state if Democrats cheat and, as he did in 2016′s campaign, suggests that the Democratic bastion of Philadelphia needs to be watched closely for election fraud. On Friday, Trump’s campaign lost a bid in a Philadelphia court to force the city to allow campaign representatives to monitor its satellite election offices. Democrats counter that Trump is running on the conspiracy of election fraud because he cannot run on his record of fraud and mismanagement. They also accuse Trump of trying to scuttle some of the 3 million or more mail-in votes that are expected in the Nov. 3 election in Pennsylvania, with Democrats applying for mail-in ballots by an almost 3-to-1 rate over Republicans.