UPDATED: 10/11/20, 12:00 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Another legal challenge from the Trump campaign has been turned away, this time by a federal judge in western Pennsylvania.
The campaign argued for signature analyses for mail-in ballots, and wanted poll watchers to be allowed to work at polling places outside of their home counties. The use of drop boxes was also in question, in line with the president's ongoing concerns over voter fraud.
In a 138-page opinion, Judge Nicholas Ranjan rejected all three of the campaign's arguments, along with those from the Pennsylvania Republican party. He ruled that ballot drop boxes scattered across the commonwealth were in and of themselves unconstitutional.
Ranjan also refused to dismiss policies in the state that allow signatures on mail-in ballots that don't exactly match those on file with a county election bureau, and required that poll watchers must live in the county where they'll be working on Election Day.
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The campaign's suit was rooted in its, and the GOP's, stated fears of voter fraud. Ranjan conceded in his opinion that such fraud was possible, but not likely.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro told KYW Newsradio that the Trump campaign's claims were "reckless," meant to cause confusion and make voters feel powerless.
"He's specifically targeting our Black and brown communities to make it harder for people to vote there and I simply will not allow that," he said. "It’s about bringing people into places like Philadelphia and Reading and Hazleton and Pittsburgh, and intimidating communities of color."
Shapiro called the ruling a victory for voters.
"It's more clarity for voters," he said. "Voters are able to vote at the polls, vote through the mail, use a drop box, or visit a satellite election office."
The ruling could be appealed to the full Third Circuit. The party has already filed an appeal on Pennsylvania's voting provisions pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, asking them to dismiss changes made in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I urge all voters to ignore the noise, ignore his lie, and make your plan to vote," assured Shapiro. "All of the different ways you can vote are safe and secure. There's no wrong door here whichever way you choose to vote your vote will be counted.
KYW Newsradio's Hadas Kuznits contributed to this report.