The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled 5-2 on Tuesday that observers’ rights to watch ballot counting was sufficient in Philadelphia, rejecting a claim from President Donald Trump’s campaign that poll observers didn’t get “meaningful access.” The Trump campaign argued that observers were stationed too far away to actually see the process of counting votes, and a lower court initially agreed with them, ordering that they be allowed closer to the process. The state Supreme Court, which had previously rejected other Republican arguments, vacated that lower court order on Tuesday. “We conclude the Board did not act contrary to law in fashioning its regulations governing the positioning of candidate representatives during the precanvassing and canvassing process, as the Election Code does not specify minimum distance parameters for the location of such representatives,” the court wrote in its majority order. “Critically, we find the Board’s regulations as applied herein were reasonable in that they allowed candidate representatives to observe the Board conducting its activities as prescribed under the Election Code.” The Trump campaign called the ruling “inexplicable” and signaled the legal battle wasn’t over. “This ruling is contrary to the clear purpose of the law,” Jenna Ellis, a campaign senior legal adviser, said in a statement. “The lower court rightly recognized that the intent and purpose of the Pennsylvania law is to allow election watchers from both parties to actually see the ballots close enough to inspect them, and thus prevent partisan ballot counting in secret.“
Wisconsin: In suspicions raised about validity of Milwaukee’s vote, leaders see harmful racial undertones | Mary Spicuzza and Alison Dirr/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
City leaders slammed the decision by President Donald Trump to seek a recount focused heavily on Milwaukee County, accusing Trump of racism and trying to disenfranchise voters here — especially Black voters. Rather than seeking a recount of the entire state in his longshot bid to reverse the Nov. 3 election results, Trump’s campaign said it would focus only on Dane and Milwaukee counties. The two counties — the state’s largest — are Democratic strongholds, with Milwaukee home to the state’s largest percentage of Black and Latino voters. “No surprise, Donald Trump has been consistent. He’ll go after communities of color, and he’ll go after communities where there are lots of Democrats,” Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said in a Wednesday interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “And he doesn’t care. “Obviously I’m offended that he picks the county and the city that has the highest percentage of African Americans in the state.” Barrett added: “A failed candidate, a failed campaign, and soon to be a failed recount effort.”
Full Article: In suspicions raised about validity of Milwaukee’s vote, leaders see harmful racial undertones