Pennsylvania becomes 'ground zero' for presidential election winner amid election integrity chaos

Pennsylvania has become "ground zero" for whoever will become the presidential election winner and election integrity chaos, as both nominees hyperfocus on the commonwealth. Unsurprisingly, lawsuits abound.

As former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris zoom in on Pennsylvania with Election Day just a day away, both political parties are also entrenched in lawfare regarding election procedures regarding mail-in ballots.

Pennsylvania is a critical competitive swing state, according to the polls, which explains the number of visits the Keystone State has had from the presidential nominees.

The RealClearPolitics polling average shows Trump up nationwide by half a point over Harris. In Pennsylvania, Trump is ahead of Harris by seven-tenths of a point, according to RealClearPolitics polling average.

Trump, Harris, and their allies have poured more than $538 million in advertising dollars into Pennsylvania, the most of any swing state.

"Pennsylvania is a train wreck"

Both Trump and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, have collectively visited Pennsylvania 36 times, while Harris and Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., have visited 40 times. The Trump campaign announced on Thursday 11 campaign stops that it will make in Pennsylvania starting Friday and going through Monday. Trump himself has three Pennsylvania rallies scheduled from Sunday to Monday.

Pennsylvania has 19 electoral votes in the electoral college, which is one less vote than it had in the last presidential election. The commonwealth went for Biden in 2020 by just 1.2 points, after going for Trump in 2016 by seven-tenths of a point.

Lawsuits and courts have become a focal point in Pennsylvania during this election, which former Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., told “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday.

“Elections have become like an economic stimulus plan for lawyers,” Gowdy said. “Pennsylvania is a train wreck … you’ve got overseas ballot issues, you've got what they call naked ballot issues,” he added. “I mean there’s a reason that people were focused on Pennsylvania – the race and the Senate may come down to that state.

“I just wish courts would stop allowing themselves to be politicized and being perceived as political. But in Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court just looks like an extension of the Democrat party, and that's how you get where we are today.”

Lawfare

There have been numerous lawsuits in the state over election procedures and administration. Former President Donald Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee won a lawsuit against Bucks County, Pa., on Wednesday to extend early voting by three days. Trump's campaign filed a lawsuit alleging voter suppression on Tuesday.

The deadline to vote early in Pennsylvania was Oct. 29. There were long lines in Bucks County, according to local reports. 

While the Pennsylvania Department of State stated that everyone who was in line before 5 p.m. could submit an application for a mail-in ballot, there were allegations that voters were turned away before that time.

"PENNSYLVANIA LAWSUIT VICTORY: We just won the Trump Campaign/RNC lawsuit against Bucks County, PA. We will now have extended early in-person mail-voting through November 1st — three extra days. We will keep fighting. Go vote! Stay in line!" RNC Chairman Michael Whatley posted on X on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a federal judge ruled against GOP congressmen from Pennsylvania who filed a lawsuit against the secretary of the commonwealth over allegedly lax requirements for military and overseas voters.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that the congressmen "delayed too long to file their action, they lack standing, they have failed to join indispensable parties, and they have failed to articulate a viable cause of action."

In another case, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party on Wednesday sued a competitive swing county in the state's northwestern corner over its alleged handling of mail ballots, after reports indicate that some voters are still waiting to receive their ballots.

The lawsuit was filed in state court and reports that only 52% of ballots in Erie County had been returned as of Monday, which is significantly lower than the national average, and is one of the lowest in the state, according to Politico.

The case alleged that county election officials sent the wrong ballots to hundreds of voters, and that thousands have not received their ballots yet. It also noted that the United States Postal Service claimed it is trying to locate 1,800 mail ballots from the county's vendor, which the service said it had never received. 

Regarding another lawsuit, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday unanimously agreed to allow a Pennsylvania ruling to remain that lets voters whose mail-in ballots are rejected for technical reasons have their votes still count if they vote again by provisional ballot.

The appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was led by the RNC, which claimed the Pennsylvania Supreme Court "misread" the Pennsylvania Election Code. The state statute says a “provisional ballot shall not be counted” if the mail ballot was still received by county election officials in a timely manner.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the prior week that voters can still cast provisional ballots in person this November if mail ballots are rejected for failing to follow procedural directions, such as not including the mandatory secrecy envelopes, which voters are required to sign and date.

It is unclear how many voters will be impacted as a result of the Supreme Court's order, because some counties do not notify voters of an error on their ballots. These errors include failing to include secrecy envelopes and failing to sign or date the outer envelope, according to CBS News.

Irregularities continue

As lawsuits are ongoing in the commonwealth ahead of Election Day, counties are finding election irregularities. Five Pennsylvania counties are investigating possible fraudulent voter applications and mail-in ballot applications in the days and weeks leading up to Election Day.

On Tuesday, Monroe County District Attorney Mike Mancuso announced that about 30 irregular voter applications and mail-in ballot request forms are being investigated by his office, with several of them "found to be fraudulent." One applicant was deceased and several forms were from one person.

"A company calling itself 'Field and Media Corps' a subsidiary of Fieldcorps, an Arizona based for-profit LLC, working out of Lancaster County, in turn was responsible for submitting the forms in question to county officials," Mancuso said.

York County is also investigating a large delivery it received of voter registration forms and mail-in ballot applications.

York County Chief Clerk Greg Monskie told Votebeat on Wednesday that Field+Media Corps submitted the forms that are under investigation. Monskie explained that Field+Media Corps received the forms from the national voter registration nonprofit Everybody Votes campaign.

Everybody Votes told Votebeat that it had not been contacted by the counties of Lancaster, Monroe, or York regarding ongoing investigations, but that it would help resolve any issues with forms if contacted. ”Our partners work diligently to ensure all forms collected comply with all rules and regulations,” Everybody Votes said in a statement.

York County said that of the 3,087 voter registration applications it is reviewing, about 47% of them were verified and approved; about 29% had incomplete information, which requires additional information from applicants before approval; and about 24% were declined and are receiving further review, 85% of which were duplicate requests.

Meanwhile, in Lancaster County, prosecutors said last month they had uncovered a large-scale scheme to submit fraudulent voter applications that were collected at shopping malls and other locations. Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams told a news conference that detectives have found about 60% of some 2,500 voter registrations submitted in recent days to the county's election office were fraudulent.

Adams added that she was aware of at least two other counties that may have similar concerns about recent voter registration applications dropped off in large batches.

Cambria County, Pa., also rejected 21 voter registration applications earlier this month after the district attorney’s office investigated and found them to be fraudulent. The applications were submitted by a group after a voter registration event, but the name of the group was undisclosed.