The Trump campaign brought a lawsuit on Wednesday against Bucks County, a populous, purple county in Pennsylvania, over allegations county officials were kicking people out of long lines at election offices.
The campaign alleged in a complaint, filed in the court of common pleas, that many voters who traveled to Bucks County election offices to pick up mail-in ballots in recent days were turned away while waiting in line for them, in violation of Pennsylvania’s election code.
Republican Senate candidate David McCormick and the Republican National Committee joined the lawsuit.
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The voters referenced in the complaint were allegedly denied mail-in ballots after they attempted to take advantage of the county’s on-demand voting option, which allows a voter to pick up a mail-in ballot and cast it in person. The deadline to do this was Tuesday.
“There were several reports during the several days preceding the final day of On Demand Mail-in Ballot Option deadline of October 29th, that locations were turning away voters because of long lines and closing of sites earlier than posted hours where voters were told they would be able to exercise this option,” Republican lawyer Wally Zimolong wrote in the complaint.
Zimolong asked the court to extend the on-demand voting option in Bucks County through the end of the day on Wednesday.
The Trump campaign also cited in a press release a video political director James Blair shared on X showing a long line of voters at an election office waiting to apply for mail-in ballots on Tuesday. Blair accused election workers of turning away some people who were in line.
Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
There’s been lines like this for days across counties in PA. Only for elections officials to come out and push people out of line and tell them to come back.
Voter suppression! pic.twitter.com/aYrR1N1AeD
— James Blair (@JamesBlairUSA) October 29, 2024
“This is against the law,” the Trump campaign wrote. “This is voter suppression from the left. We will fight for every legal vote in Pennsylvania. Go vote, and stay in line!”
Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, shared in an announcement on Tuesday Pennsylvania’s policy that eligible voters who are in line by 5:00 p.m. are entitled to receive a mail-in ballot.
Pennsylvania has been treated by both Trump’s and Vice President Kamala Harris‘s campaign as a must-win battleground state, and Bucks County, located just above Philadelphia, has been one of the state’s most closely watched counties in recent elections.
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In 2020, Trump narrowly lost Pennsylvania, but in 2016, he narrowly won it. Trump lost Bucks County both years, by about a 4% margin in 2020 and less than a 1% margin in 2016.
Read the full complaint below: