October 10, 2020
Pennsylvania District Court Dismisses Trump Campaign Challenge to Use of Ballot Drop Boxes
Rules Trump Campaign Unable to Produce Any Evidence of Voter Fraud
PITTSBURGH – In a significant development in the fight to protect the civil rights of millions of older Pennsylvania voters, Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania today upheld three critical voting issues to make voting easier and safer in the pandemic. The judge dismissed all claims of the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee.
The Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans is an intervenor in the case.
This opinion means that:
- Counties may use multiple ballot drop boxes for return of mail-in ballots;
- County election boards cannot reject mail-in ballots based solely on signature analysis; and
- Pennsylvania’s county-residency requirement for poll watchers is constitutional, which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently ruled under the Pennsylvania constitution.
“Judge Ranjan’s ruling is a victory for all voters in Pennsylvania, especially older voters who need to return their ballots without putting their health at risk during the coronavirus pandemic,” said Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans. “It is an established fact that an individual’s signature may change over time. Ballots should not be rejected arbitrarily solely for that reason.”
A copy of the judge’s ruling and opinion is here.
The Alliance for Retired Americans, working with its state chapters, has filed lawsuits to protect vote by mail and absentee voters in Florida, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin, in addition to Pennsylvania this year.
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The Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans is a state affiliate of the national Alliance for Retired Americans and has 335,389 members statewide.
Contact: Lisa Cutler, lcutler@retiredamericans.org
