Judges rejects Trump campaign suit over Philadelphia voter offices
US President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he makes his way to board Air Force One before departing from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on September 1, 2020, heading to Kenosha, Wisconsin to meet with law enforcement officials and to survey
PHILADELPHIA - A judge on Friday rejected a bid by President Donald Trump’s campaign to force Philadelphia to allow campaign representatives to monitor people registering to vote or filling out mail-in ballots in election offices in a city repeatedly attacked by Trump as untrustworthy.
Judge Gary Glazer wrote in his 14-page opinion that Pennsylvania law does not allow such representatives to observe in election offices, a stance held by election lawyers, city officials and the state’s top elections official.
The lawsuit comes amid Trump claiming that he can only lose the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania if Democrats cheat and, as he did in 2016′s campaign, and suggesting that the Democratic bastion of Philadelphia needs to be watched closely for election fraud.
RELATED: Trump campaign sues Philadelphia over mail-in voting offices
The Trump campaign filed the lawsuit last week, two days after Philadelphia opened seven satellite election offices, new creations deemed to be legal under state law by the state Supreme Court. There, people can register to vote, apply for a mail-in ballot, fill it out and turn it in.
Trump campaign employees promptly showed up at the offices, insisting they be allowed to go in and observe the activity inside. City election officials prevented them.
Trump referred to that confrontation in last week’s debate with Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, saying “bad things happen in Philadelphia.”
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