Voters in Bucks County Pennsylvania will have until the end of the day on Friday, November 1 to “apply for, receive, vote, and return a mail-in ballot,” according to a court document posted on X by the Pennsylvania GOP.
This comes less than one day after the Republican National Committee (RNC), Pennsylvania GOP, and the Trump Campaign sued Bucks County for turning away citizens attempting to vote early before the October 29 deadline at 5pm.
CBS News and other outlets have reported that voters were sent away as early as 2:45pm, more than two hours before the deadline.
According to the court order shared Wednesday, Judge Jeffrey G. Trauger concluded that Bucks County officials violated the Pennsylvania Election Code in turning voters away prior to the 5pm cutoff.
Bucks County Commissioner and Chair of the Board of Elections told CBS News that this is only the second presidential election in which they have offered on-demand mail-in ballot voting.
Under this system, ballots can take as long as ten or twelve minutes to process, resulting in the long lines that have been documented in recent days, including the one that reportedly wrapped around the Bucks County Administration Building Tuesday.
The Associated Press reported that Bucks County officials have said they are “pleased to be able to offer additional days for those who are still seeking to vote on-demand.”
Those who filed suit also appear to be considering the court’s ruling Wednesday a win.
“When you tell people that they need to leave, that they should not vote, while it is legal for them to vote, that is extraordinarily problematic,” said said RNC Chair Michael Whatley during a press call, according to Fox News. “And I don’t know, and I don’t care whether that was disproportionately affecting Republicans or Democrats.”
“The fact is, you had voters who were in line in a position to legally cast their votes, who were told by officials not to do so,” Whatley said. “And it is, it is good to see that the court has agreed with us that that is problematic and ordered Bucks County to have additional days of early vote as a remedy for it.”
“Today’s ruling really is kind of a victory for making sure Pennsylvanians are going to have a secure and orderly process,” said Bill McGinley, an attorney for the RNC and Trump campaign.
The Trump campaign had previously called the officials’ decision to shut down the line early “a direct violation of Pennsylvanians’ rights to cast their ballot.”
“All voters have a right to STAY in line,” the Trump campaign reportedly said in a statement.
“We have heard that we won this lawsuit, and Bucks County has extended pre-Election Day voting through November 1,” said RNC Chair Whatley. “This is a landmark victory that will allow our voters to cast those votes pursuant to Pennsylvania law. The RNC will leave no stone unturned in ensuring a fair, accurate and secure and transparent election, not just for Republican voters, but for all voters.”
In Erie County, Pennsylvania, Democrats raised concerns in a separate lawsuit that thousands of voters had yet to receive early mail ballots as requested. The suit further alleges that about 1,800 ballots had been lost due to postal problems, while around 300 people received two ballots, some of which were for the wrong races, according to the Associated Press.
To address these concerns, the county extended voter registration hours and agreed to help voters file provisional ballots at the polls on Tuesday. A hearing was scheduled in state court for Thursday.
The democrats want to extend their election results which according to past precedent will give them the additional time to come up with the votes they need. Shameful that the democrats have brought me to this point of questioning their evil motives on everything. Banana Republic or Constitutional Republic? That simple!