Pennsylvania county voters courted by Harris and Trump have one more day to vote early

DOYLESTOWN, PA. — Voters in a popular suburban Philadelphia district heavily courted by presidential candidates had their last chance Friday to cast ballots. voting by mail.

The court set a deadline of 5 p.m. for Bucks County voters to apply for and receive a mail-in ballot.

The deadline was extended by three days in response to a lawsuit alleging voters faced disenfranchisement when they were turned away by county processing offices that closed. The lawsuit was filed by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, the Republican National Committee and Republican Senate candidate David McCormick.

Dates and closure of offices led to long queues and confusion among some voters who believed that, as at the polls on Election Day, they were eligible to vote if they were in line by the time the polling station closed. But county election offices are not official polling places, and officials announced closing times as early as 2 p.m. on the weekend.

The Trump campaign’s lawsuit says people who were in line to apply for a mail-in ballot in person by 5 p.m. Tuesday should have been allowed to receive a ballot even after the deadline. But the Bucks County Board of Elections denied voters that right and ordered them to leave, the lawsuit says.

Bucks County Judge Jeffrey Trauger ruled that the Board of Elections violated the state election code and ordered the deadline to be extended until Friday.

Unlike other states, Pennsylvania does not have true early in-person voting. Voters can apply in advance for mail-in ballots online or in person at county election offices.

It can take about 12 minutes and requires applying for a mail-in ballot, waiting for a barcoded envelope to print, and then if voters choose, they can vote on the spot. Or they can put it in a mailbox or mailbox. Election offices must receive ballots by 8 p.m. Tuesday; According to the state, a postmark would not be sufficient by then.

No-excuse mail voting is a relatively new phenomenon in Pennsylvania. The Legislature approved expanding the practice in 2019. In 2020, Trump—with no evidence to back up the claim—claimed that mail voting was rife with fraud, discouraging many Republicans from voting by mail. That changed this year with the emergence of Trump and billionaire business mogul Elon Musk. approving this practice and urging supporters to vote early by mail.

Pennsylvania is the largest and richest battleground this year, with the most visits from Trump and Harris. The state narrowly went for Trump in 2016 and flipped to Biden in 2020. Bucks County voted for Hillary Clinton by one point in 2016, and in 2020 Biden increased the Democratic lead to five points.