Trump Campaign Sues Pa Over Mail-in Voting

President Donald Trump's re-election campaign sued Pennsylvania and most counties, including Northampton and Lehigh, over the administration of recent changes to state law that authorize mail-in voting. The 57-page polemic (you can read it here) condemns write-in voting, but the complaint itself addresses only how it's been administered. It's asking for injunctive relief from the United States District Court in Pittsburgh to address the following problems:

First, it asks the Court to limit the location at which mail-in ballots can be dropped off to the county elections office or a location that would meet the definition of a polling place. According to the complaint, Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar allowed 20 counties to establish drop-off boxes at shopping centers, parking lots, fairgrounds, parks, retirement homes, college campuses, fire halls, municipal government buildings, and elected officials' offices. In Philadelphia, the Committee of Seventy was enlisted to implement a mobile mail-in ballot collection. This might be convenient, but no authority for it exists. Moreover, Boockvar and county elections boards are ministerial, and have no discretion to exceed what is permitted by statute.

Second, it insists that any drop-ff boxes that are legally sanctioned must be monitored and secured. At the most recent meeting of NorCo's Elections Comm'n, Registrar Amy Cozze resisted the notion of multiple drop-ff boxes for precisely that reason. The drop-off box at the county courthouse is both secure and monitored.

Third, the Trump campaign demands that elections officials must disregard all mail-in ballots received that are not inside the secrecy envelope provided with the ballot. Moreover, if a voter writes his name or address on the outside of the envelope, it must be discarded. The Elections Code does provide that a mail-in "shall" be enclosed in the "Official Election Ballot" secrecy envelope with no text, mark, or symbol which reveals the elector's identity, political affiliation or candidate preference, and then "shall" be mailed or personally delivered to only the county boards of
elections to ensure that the ballots are properly cast, kept secret, and not subject to fraud. But what possible fraud is committed when a voter unknowingly puts his name and address on the secrecy ballot, or forgets to place his ballot inside a secrecy envelope? It appears to me that the word "shall," in this context, is precatory, not mandatory. There is a strong public policy favoring the right to vote, and it's absurd to negate someone's efforts simply because he unthinkingly signed his name to a secrecy ballot. It nevertheless is a good idea for a judge to weigh in on this topic because different counties have different interpretations of what is, after all, a state law.

Fourth, the Complaint demands that non-resident poll watchers (persons selected by candidates and parties to ensure that votes are properly counted) should be permitted. Moreover,. elections officials should permit them to be present when mail-in ballots are received. The law already permits a "representative" of each candidate and party, so this seems like overkill.

What I think Trump is really doing is planting the seeds to explain a major defeat in a state he won in 2016. Moreover, while the compliant is highly critical of mail-in voting, it seeks no injunctive relief against it.