UPDATED: 5:30 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A judge Friday denied an appeal brought by the Trump campaign arguing that thousands of ballots cast in Philadelphia should be thrown out on a technicality.
The decision to deny the Trump campaign's appeal means that about 8,000 Philadelphia ballots will be counted, affirming a decision made previously by the board of elections.
Petitioner Linda Kearns filed five separate petitions, and the court hearing focused on one of those petitions alleging that 4,466 mail-in ballots should be thrown out because voters did not fill out their address and printed their name on the outer envelope.
Elizabeth Elkins with the Board of Elections argued that there is no requirement in the election code for voters to include their address or printed name on the outer envelope.
The signatures, their validity, authenticity of the voters or date by which the ballots were returned was not in question.
Kearns focused on instructions indicating the voter "shall" fill out the outer envelope with their address, but Elkins argued that you will not find any requirement in the code for voters to include their printed name and address.
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Elkins added that legislatures have decided to expand the vote by mail-in ballot, and it's not up to the electorate to remove those ballots.
Judge James Crumlish III cited a ruling that when the instructions are not clear, you should rule in favor of the voter. But the clarity of the instructions was disputed by Kearns.
With a Pennsylvania margin of about 100,000 in favor of the Biden administration, the outcome of this ruling does not impact the outcome of the election in the state.