PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — After an emergency hearing Thursday evening, a federal judge denied the Trump campaign’s request to stop ballot counting in Philadelphia.
The judge ordered both sides to “work it out as the whole world is watching Philadelphia right now” and set guidelines for how the two sides should move forward as the remaining ballots are processed.
Trump campaign lawyers say Philadelphia County Board of Elections “disobeyed” a state judge’s order to allow poll watchers to be 6 feet from the processing, which the city dismissed as false.
The campaign lawyers also argued they didn’t have enough observers inside, but the board pointed to state election law which dictates how many observers per party and per candidate are allowed to watch.
In the end, the judge said both parties had to act in good faith to allow the process to be fair to both parties, adding that the jurisdiction really lies with the state Supreme Court.
The city’s board of elections filed an appeal to the high court after a state court ruled poll watchers must be within 6 feet of all processing tables.