Chalk up a win for Donald Trump in Pennsylvania before Election day.
A federal judge ruled against claims Monday that Trump and his political adviser Roger Stone urged campaign supporters to intimidate minority voters at the polls on elections day by becoming “ballot integrity” volunteers.
According to Bloomberg News, U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond in Philadelphia, dealt a major blow to Democrats hoping for a court order prohibiting polling-place activity deemed to be disrespectful, which they argued could stifle turn out for Hillary Clinton.
The Democrats’ “belated, inflammatory allegations appear intended to generate only heat,” and don’t back up claims that the Trump campaign endangered voting rights, Diamond stated in a 16-page ruling.
“When he says cheaters he means Latinos and blacks,” former Philadelphia councilman Angel Ortiz testified at the Monday hearing. “That’s how I get it.”
Ortiz later added, “People who look like me, they’ll be asked for papers or citizenship or where they’re from.”
The favorable ruling for the Trump campaign follows a loss in court for the Pennsylvania GOP last week after U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert who rejected a lawsuit by the party to allow registered voters in the state to be certified poll watchers in any county.