(Phillyburbs.com) Bucks County Judge Jeffrey Trauger has ordered the Bucks County Board of Elections to extend its on-demand mail-in ballot deadline until “the close of business” on Friday, Nov. 1.
The Wednesday afternoon ruling stems from a lawsuit filed several hours earlier by former President Donald Trump’s campaign and other state and national GOP groups claiming Bucks County illegally turned away voters.
The county has asked the court for clarification that it could offer on-demand voting at just the county building in Doylestown and that the hours would be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The filing with the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas, posted online late Wednesday morning, alleges that the county violated the state’s election laws by not allowing some voters to use the “on-demand mail-ballot” option in the final hours of the mail-in ballot application at 5 p.m. Oct. 29. Trump and his allies are asking to extend the mail ballot registration window until the close of business today.
On-demand mail voting in Pennsylvania is a process where a registered voter can apply for, complete and return a mail ballot in one stop, rather than waiting for their ballot to arrive by mail and then returning it later.
The window for on-demand voting is only open between when ballots are available until the application deadline, and a surge of participation has caused hours-long waits in multiple counties, including Bucks, over at least the last week.
The lawsuit states that election offices in Bucks County turned away voters “without allowing the opportunity to even submit their applications” and “precluded them from voting by mail, as is their right under the Election Code.”
“In other words, by appearing at one of the Board’s offices during posted operating hours and by the application deadline to exercise their On Demand Mailin-Ballot Option, many of Plaintiffs’ members and supporters effectively attempted to apply for a mail in ballot by the application deadline but the Board refused to process the same,” attorney Walter Zimolong, based in Delaware County, wrote in the court documents.
Among the filings are declarations from three Bucks County voters who said they arrived at one of three Bucks County election offices between 2:40 p.m. and 3:25 p.m., just hours before the mail-in application deadline, and were “told by county officials I would not be able to request, receive, vote, and submit a mailed-in ballot and that I would have to return on a different day.”
Trump’s campaign is joined in the suit by the Republican National Committee, Republican Party of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick and his campaign.
What has Bucks County said?
Bucks County officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday afternoon and did not comment on initial claims at a Tuesday night rally in Allentown by RNC Chairman Micheal Whatley and McCormick.
