Election category, Page 108
Biden signals shift from Trump with national security picks
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden is moving to fill out his national security team with a raft of appointments to top positions that signal his intent to repudiate the Trump administration’s “America First” doctrine. The six picks announced on Monday, almost all of them alumni of the Obama administration, represent...
Wisconsin presidential recount in 4th day, with few changes
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin’s partial presidential recount entered its fourth day Monday, with very few changes in vote totals as President Donald Trump’s attorneys appeared to be focused on a legal challenge seeking to toss tens of thousands of ballots, including the one cast by an attorney for the campaign....
Trump appeals rejection of effort to block Pennsylvania vote
HARRISBURG — President Donald Trump is appealing a federal judge’s dismissal of his campaign’s effort to block the certification of votes in Pennsylvania. The president and other plaintiffs filed notice of appeal to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Sunday, a day after the judge issued a scathing...
In Wisconsin recount, Trump challenges pile up, slow tally
MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin recount observer Ardis Cerny stretched her neck as far as she could toward a Plexiglas divider separating her from two vote counters, eagle-eyeing them as they scrutinized ballot papers one by one. When one tabulator told the ardent supporter of President Donald Trump she was leaning too...
Trump election challenges sound alarm among voters of color
DETROIT — When longtime Detroit community advocate Frank McGhee watched two Republican canvassers vote against certifying election results in the majority Black city, he was furious. McGhee, 58, has spent more than two decades working with Detroit youth and educating them on the electoral process. He said it was “outrageous”...
Loeffler quarantining after mixed covid test results
ATLANTA — U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler is quarantining after receiving mixed results from recent coronavirus tests. The Georgia Republican took two rapid COVID tests on Friday morning that came back negative, a spokesperson for her campaign said in a statement Saturday night. She received another test Friday evening and the...
Suit challenges expansion of mail-in voting in Pennsylvania
Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly is leading a suit filed Saturday in Pennsylvania challenging the use of mail-in ballots predominately cast by Democrats in lifting Joe Biden to victory in the presidential race in the state and seeking to block certification of the election results. The lawsuit was filed in...
Judge throws out bid to stop Pa. vote certification; Toomey calls on Trump to ‘accept outcome of election’
Pennsylvania officials can certify election results that currently show Democrat Joe Biden winning the state by more than 80,000 votes, a federal judge ruled Saturday, dealing President Donald Trump’s campaign another blow in its effort to invalidate the election. NEW: The @TeamTrump lawsuit against the PA Sec’y of State —...
Criminal justice reformers cheer multiple election victories
NEW YORK — Almost six months after the death of George Floyd, criminal justice reform advocates are cheering the election of a handful of progressive prosecutors, the passage of ballot initiatives designed to ease mass incarceration and the decriminalization of drugs in several states. Voters also sent Black Lives Matter...
Court decisions loom in tied state Senate race between Brewster-Ziccarelli
Lawyers for the campaigns of Democratic incumbent state Sen. Jim Brewster and Republican challenger Nicole Ziccarelli continued to argue in two different courts Friday over the legality more than 400 ballots cast in two counties that will swing the outcome of the tied race for the 45th District, which straddles...
VP Mike Pence campaigns in Georgia ahead of Senate runoffs
CANTON, Ga. — Vice President Mike Pence campaigned in Georgia on Friday as the state’s two Republican senators try to hold off Democratic challengers in January 5th runoffs that will determine who controls the Senate at the outset of President-elect Joe Biden’s administration. The trip highlights a critical juncture both...
Trump objects to counting thousands of Wisconsin ballots
MADISON, Wis. — The recount of the presidential election in Wisconsin’s two most heavily Democratic counties began Friday with President Donald Trump’s campaign seeking to discard tens of thousands of absentee ballots that it alleged should not have been counted. Trump’s three objections attempting to discard the ballots were denied...
N.J. governor signs order giving counties more time to count votes
TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday said he signed an executive order delaying when counties must certify the results from the Nov. 3 election. The state’s 21 counties must certify results by Friday under current law, but Murphy’s order pushes the deadline to Wednesday. Murphy, a...
Georgia officials certify election results showing Biden win
ATLANTA — Georgia’s governor and top elections official on Friday certified results showing Joe Biden won the presidential race over Republican President Donald Trump, bringing the state one step closer to wrapping up an election fraught with unfounded accusations of fraud by Trump and his supporters. Secretary of State Brad...
Trump, allies make frantic steps to overturn Biden’s victory
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and his allies are taking increasingly frantic steps to subvert the results of the 2020 election, including summoning state legislators to the White House as part of a longshot bid to overturn Joe Biden’s victory. Among other last-ditch tactics: personally calling local election officials who...
State Sen. Brewster now tied with challenger Ziccarelli in 45th District race
Republican challenger Nicole Ziccarelli has pulled into a tie with Democratic incumbent state Sen. Jim Brewster in the race for the 45th District seat. Ziccarelli, a New Kensington lawyer, was trailing Brewster by 28 votes late Thursday afternoon, but she made up those votes as the tally from the Westmoreland...
Biden wins Georgia, ending long losing streak for Democrats
ATLANTA — Joe Biden has won Georgia, scoring a rare win in a Southern state that hadn’t backed a Democrat for president in nearly 30 years. The Associated Press declared Joe Biden the winner of Georgia and its 16 Electoral College votes on Thursday, after state election officials there said...
State appeals court orders challenged ballots in Brewster-Ziccarelli Senate race to not be counted; race tied
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on Thursday evening ordered that 2,349 undated mail-in ballots in Allegheny County not be counted as part of an appeal by the Republican challenger for the 45th Senatorial District seat. But the order — and the one the court issued to stay the vote count Wednesday...
Trump supporters plan ‘election integrity’ rally in Greensburg
Supporters of President Trump will rally Saturday outside the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg to protest the results of the election. The 2 p.m. event could overlap with a Black Lives Matter rally scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tony Naples, co-organizer of the 1776 Rally For Election Integrity, said there will...
Trump summons Michigan GOP leaders for extraordinary meeting
DETROIT — President Donald Trump summoned Michigan’s Republican legislative leaders to the White House for an extraordinary meeting Friday amid a long shot GOP push to subvert the democratic process that handed the battleground state to Democrat Joe Biden. Two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that...
Wisconsin recount cleared to begin after partisan fight
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Elections Commission has agreed to issue an order to recount ballots in two heavily liberal counties at President Donald Trump’s request, but only after hours of contentious debate that may foreshadow the partisan battle ahead. Trump paid the $3 million required for the recount and...
Georgia’s hand recount of presidential race nears endVideo
ATLANTA — Election officials across Georgia were expected to complete a hand tally of the presidential race Wednesday night, which would allow state officials to begin the process of certifying the election results, a top elections official said. The hand recount of about 5 million votes stems from an audit...
Provisional board member axed after call to poll watcher
Westmoreland County commissioners unanimously fired a Republican volunteer from his role as a member of the county’s provisional board for partisan activity during ballot reviews. Commissioners said Thomas Altman, 70, of Ligonier, improperly coordinated efforts with a Republican campaign poll watcher to challenge contested provisional ballots earlier this week. Altman...
2 women, including Westmoreland’s Kim Ward, just made history in Pa. legislature
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — One is a former health-care worker and political veteran from Westmoreland County. The other is an ex-public defender and...
Virus outbreak delays Westmoreland vote certification
Westmoreland County Commissioners said a final certification of election results won’t come until after Thanksgiving as officials continue to deal with a coronavirus outbreak among employees tasked with completing the ballot count. As of Wednesday, the outbreak that started days before the Nov. 3 election left just two full-time and...
