A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by six Republican members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation that challenged the state’s handling of ballots for military and overseas voters. The judge tossed the suit on procedural grounds, including that the plaintiffs had waited too long to initiate legal action and could not rely on “phantom fears of foreign malfeasance” to justify their late challenge.
The decision, handed down by Judge Christopher C. Conner of U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, noted that Pennsylvania authorities had already sent out more than 25,000 overseas ballots by the end of September.
The ruling could be meaningful in the battleground state that is considered a must-win for both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump. In 2020, the state was decided by 80,555 votes. Four years earlier, the margin was even slimmer: 44,292 votes.
Representatives Guy Reschenthaler, Dan Meuser, Glenn Thompson, Lloyd Smucker, Mike Kelly and Scott Perry filed their complaint late last month, arguing that the state’s policy of exempting military and overseas absentee voters from submitting proof of identification runs afoul of federal law, adding that it “creates an opportunity for inclusion of ineligible ballots” and could lead to foreign interference.
They asked the court to order local elections officials to verify the voters’ identity and eligibility before their ballots would be accepted and counted and to segregate the ballots until they could be verified.
But Judge Conner, who was appointed to the bench by George W. Bush in 2002, said that their requested changes “would upend the commonwealth’s carefully laid election administration procedures,” affecting thousands of voters as well as state and county officials who would have to enact the changes.
The Election Research Institute, which is helping to represent the plaintiffs, said in a statement that they were disappointed by the judge’s decision and were considering all options for appeal. It added that they remained confident they will prevail when the case is considered on the merits.
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