A lawsuit filed by several Republican members of Congress in Pennsylvania seeking to have overseas ballots set aside for extra vetting and potential exclusion from the election results has been dismissed by a federal court judge. The Republicans, who filed the lawsuit just 36 days before the election, wanted the court to direct county election boards in Pennsylvania to segregate overseas ballots and create new verification procedures. However, the judge ruled that it would be too disruptive to implement new procedures so close to the election.
The Republicans claimed that Pennsylvania had exempted overseas ballot applications from certain verification requirements, but Democrats defending against the lawsuit argued that there was no evidence of invalid ballots being submitted. The Secretary of Pennsylvania and a Republican also urged the judge to dismiss the case, noting that the lawsuit was brought at the last minute after voting had already begun.
The plaintiffs, which included five Republican U.S. House members and one additional Republican congressman, did not provide a reason for bringing the lawsuit so close to the election. The judge ultimately dismissed the case, stating that implementing new verification procedures at such a late stage would disrupt the election process and potentially disenfranchise voters.
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