Donald Trump‘s presidential campaign on Wednesday won a lawsuit against a Pennsylvania county after officials sent voters home well before an early vote deadline the day before.
On Tuesday, at around 2:45 p.m., voters in line at the Bucks County administration building were told they could no longer request on-demand mail-in ballots. The line was subsequently cut and that aspect of the request process was curtailed for the day.
This action by county officials seemingly contradicted some amount of official guidance about the on-demand mail-in process.
In a terse order, Bucks County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Trauger cleared up confusion by ruling in the Trump campaign’s favor.
“Defendants actions in turning away voters who sought to apply for a mail-in ballot and receive one in person before the deadline of 5:00 p.m. on October 29, 2024 violated the Pennsylvania Election Code,” the order reads. “Defendants shall permit any persons who wishes to apply for, receive, vote, and return a mail-in ballot to appear at the Elections Bureau office and do so during normal business hours before the close of business on November 1, 2024.”
Now, voters in Bucks County will have an additional three days beyond the statutory deadline — which falls on Oct. 29 this year — to request and return on-demand mail-in ballots, according to the court’s order.
Pennsylvania does not have regular in-person early voting.
Rather, the Keystone State has a hybridized system where a voter can: (1) request a mail-in ballot, in-person or online, receive and return their ballot through the mail; (2) request a mail-in ballot, receive it through the mail, and then return it through the mail or in-person; or (3) request a mail-in ballot in-person and return it in-person immediately.
The third option is referred to as “on-demand” or “early in-person mail-voting,” and was the subject of Trump’s winning lawsuit.
“Voters throughout Bucks County sought to request a mail-in ballot to vote in the 2024 General Election,” the filing reads. “Many, traveled to the Bucks County Bureau of Elections offices, only to be turned away, and forced by security to leave without applying for and obtaining a mail-in ballot, as is their right under the Pennsylvania Election Code. Plaintiffs bring the instant Complaint seeking to remedy the county’s violation of the Election Code.”
While Trump’s campaign went to the courthouses, election officials in Bucks County went to the media — pleading their case that voters had only been promised the opportunity to request an application, not the opportunity to complete the on-demand process.
The lawsuit, on the other hand, argued a more liberal understanding of what the law — and election officials — promised voters.
From the filing, at length:
“In other words, by appearing at one of the Board’s offices during posted operating hours and by the application deadline to exercise their On Demand Mail-in-Ballot Option, many of Plaintiffs’ members and supporters effectively attempted to apply for a mail in ballot by the application deadline but the Board refused to process the same,” the lawsuit goes on.
There was, however, some potential for dispute.
On Tuesday, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said: “Last week, the Department of State asked counties to plan to ensure every registered voter who was in line by 5 p.m. today is provided with the opportunity to apply for and submit a mail ballot application.”
In a similar but distinct post on X (formerly Twitter), the same office said: “If you are in line at a county elections office tonight at 5 p.m. to apply for your mail-in ballot, counties must give you an opportunity to do so. Our team continues to work with all counties to ensure every eligible voter who wants to vote by mail ballot is able to.”
The judge, in the end, sided with the Trump campaign.
In response, Bucks County filed a request for clarification.
The motion alleges the following issues with the court’s order:
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