Politics

Pennsylvania congressman claims state’s mail-in ballots are unconstitutional: suit

Congressman Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, one of President Trump’s top House allies, filed a lawsuit Saturday aimed at throwing out 2.6 million mail-in votes in his home state — claiming the state law allowing them is unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Michigan are attempting to delay that state’s scheduled Monday certification, days after a dramatic battle over the election results in Detroit’s Wayne County drew Trump’s attention.

The Kelly lawsuit seeks to halt the certification of the results of the Nov. 3 election in the Keystone State, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Joe Biden’s 81,000-vote victory in Pennsylvania is set to be officially declared on Monday.

The case parallels a Friday filing by the Trump campaign itself that asked a federal court to halt statewide certification so that 1.5 million mail-in ballots in seven disputed Pennsylvania counties can be examined for evidence of the fraud and irregularities that Trump insists occurred there. A judge tossed the Trump campaign’s suit on Saturday, citing “strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations … unsupported by evidence.”

Kelly’s suit was joined by Sean Parnell, the Republican congressional candidate who lost his bid to unseat Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb by a 2-percent margin.

Sean Parnell is seen at a rally for President Trump at the Pittsburgh International Airport.
Sean Parnell is seen at a rally for President Trump at the Pittsburgh International Airport.AP

They claim that the universal, no-excuse mail-in ballot program passed by the state legislature’s GOP majority in 2019 violates the Pennsylvania constitution, which outlines only four conditions under which mail voting is legal.

In the Michigan battle, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and state GOP chairwoman Laura Cox wrote a letter to the state Board of Canvassers Saturday requesting a “full, transparent audit” before certifying the results, the Detroit News reported.

“To simply gloss over those irregularities now without a thorough audit would only foster feelings of distrust among Michigan’s electorate,” the party leaders wrote.

The request followed a similar letter filed by US Senate candidate John James on Friday — and word that a Republican member of the board may also move for a certification delay based on the ballot discrepancies found in Wayne County.

The leaders of Michigan’s GOP-majority state legislature, who met with Trump at the White House Friday, said afterward that they would “follow the law” in certifying the election before the Electoral College votes are counted in December.