A Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court judge ordered a halt to the certification of the state’s election results Wednesday, though it is unclear what effect the order will have as the state certified its election results Tuesday.
Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough handed down the order, which the Daily Caller has confirmed with the Commonwealth Court office. The order blocks certification of results “to the extent that there remains any further action to perfect the certification of the results.” Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced that the state department certified President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the state Tuesday.
State Attorney General Josh Shapiro says the order does not affect Tuesday’s certification, and his office is ready to file an appeal.
This order does not impact yesterday’s appointment of electors. We will be filing an appeal with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court momentarily. https://t.co/wRzFwPvJIO
— AG Josh Shapiro (@PAAttorneyGen) November 25, 2020
McCollough’s order came in response to a petition from Republican members of and candidates for the state legislature, who argue the state’s mail-in voting statute violates the Pennsylvania constitution. The statute, Act 77, was signed into law in October 2019. (RELATED: White House Cancels Trump’s Trip With Giuliani To Attend Pennsylvania Election Hearing)
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, personal attorney to U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks during a news conference held to discuss filing election-related lawsuits at Atlantic Aviation PHL private air terminal in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. November 4, 2020. (REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich)
“Act 77 is the most expansive and fundamental change to the Pennsylvania voting code, implemented illegally, to date,” the filing stated. “As with prior historical attempts to illegally expand mail-in voting by statute, which have been struck down going as far back as the Military Absentee Ballot Act of 1839, Act 77 is another illegal attempt to override the limitations on absentee voting prescribed in the Pennsylvania Constitution, without first following the necessary procedure to amend the constitution to allow for the expansion.”
McCollough’s order says the remaining certification work — if there is any — must halt until an evidentiary hearing Friday.
The order came hours before Trump campaign lawyer Rudy Giuliani testified before the Pennsylvania state legislature regarding allegations of voter fraud in the state. The Republican-held legislature also heard testimony from a number of election workers who claim they witnessed irregularities of fraud during the vote counting.
A Pennsylvania district court threw out the Trump campaign’s federal lawsuit alleging fraud on Saturday.
“This Court has been presented with strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations, unpled in the operative complaint and unsupported by evidence,” U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann wrote. “In the United States of America, this cannot justify the disenfranchisement of a single voter, let alone all the voters of its sixth most populated state. Our people, laws, and institutions demand more.”