GOP fight against late-arriving mail ballots in Pennsylvania likely wouldn't affect enough votes to close gap


President Trump on Saturday continued to push unfounded allegations of voter fraud via his Twitter account, as his Democratic competitor Joe Biden builds a lead in several states that has him on pace for more than 270 electoral votes and, subsequently, the presidency.
Trump was particularly focused on Pennsylvania, which he was leading until Friday morning when Biden grabbed the edge. The president took issue with the fact that the Keystone State was accepting mail-in ballots that arrived after 8 p.m. on Election Day. Pennsylvania, under a ruling by the state Supreme Court, is allowed to count ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrived by 5 p.m. on Friday. However, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito approved a GOP request that county boards must comply with state guidelines to segregate the late arriving ballots from those that were received on or before Election Day.
Republicans are counting that as a win, but Alito did not direct officials to stop counting votes like they sought, and 42 of the state's 67 counties confirmed they were already following Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar's order to separate the ballots, per The Washington Post. The 25 other counties didn't respond after the state GOP contacted them to see if they were following suit, but it also appears that the total number of ballots the order applies to is relatively small compared to Biden's lead, which is now more than 27,000 votes. The United States Postal Service reportedly processed 4,900 ballots in Pennsylvania on Wednesday and Thursday, which wouldn't make up that difference. Read more at The Washington Post. Tim O'Donnell
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Should you add your child to your credit card?
The Explainer You can make them an authorized user on your account in order to help them build credit
-
Cracker Barrel crackup: How the culture wars are upending corporate branding
In the Spotlight Is it 'woke' to leave nostalgia behind?
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Judge: Trump's US attorney in NJ serving unlawfully
Speed Read The appointment of Trump's former personal defense lawyer, Alina Habba, as acting US attorney in New Jersey was ruled 'unlawful'
-
Third judge rejects DOJ's Epstein records request
Speed Read Judge Richard Berman was the third and final federal judge to reject DOJ petitions to unseal Epstein-related grand jury material
-
Texas OKs gerrymander sought by Trump
Speed Read The House approved a new congressional map aimed at flipping Democratic-held seats to Republican control
-
Israel starts Gaza assault, approves West Bank plan
Speed Read Israel forces pushed into the outskirts of Gaza City and Netanyahu's government gave approval for a settlement to cut the occupied Palestinian territory in two
-
Court says labor board's structure unconstitutional
Speed Read The ruling has broad implications for labor rights enforcement in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi
-
Feds seek harsh charges in DC arrests, except for rifles
Speed Read The DOJ said 465 arrests had been made in D.C. since Trump federalized law enforcement there two weeks ago
-
Trump taps Missouri AG to help lead FBI
Speed Read Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been appointed FBI co-deputy director, alongside Dan Bongino
-
Trump warms to Kyiv security deal in summit
Speed Read Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Trump's support for guaranteeing his country's security 'a major step forward'