Pennsylvania Certifies Election Results

HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania has certified the results from the Nov. 3 election, Gov. Tom Wolf confirmed on Tuesday. Wolf has signed the Certificate of Ascertainment for the slate of electors for Joseph Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president.

The announcement comes after a series of legal challenges put forth by the Trump campaign. Donald Trump lost in Pennsylvania to Biden by more than 80,000 votes.

"I want to thank the election officials who have administered a fair and free election during an incredibly challenging time in our commonwealth and country's history," Wolf said. "Our election workers have been under constant attack and they have performed admirably and honorably."

Trump's legal team suffered a series of blows over the weekend and into Monday, when their appeal of a federal judge's dismissal of their suit was rejected.

U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephanos Bibas said in a court filing Monday afternoon that the appeal was "summarily dismissed for lack of standing, as there is no injury-in-fact."
Another emergency motion was then swiftly filed, asking for a judge to place a restraining order on the certification of election results while another appeal is pending.

The complex jumble of legal filings came after a federal judge originally threw the lawsuit out on Saturday. The Trump campaign filed their first appeal of that decision just a day later, on Sunday, even as the suit's dim chances appeared to darken further.

The deadline for counties to certify the results of the election in Pennsylvania was Monday.

A federal judge dismissed Trump's case on Saturday, calling it an attempt to disenfranchise voters. "Our people, laws, and institutions demand more," wrote U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Brann in his ruling.

"Let me be clear — the will of the people will not be thwarted," Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said on Twitter, calling the Trump team's attempts to stop the certification of election results in Pennsylvania "baseless."

Meanwhile, more and more prominent Republicans have publicly called for Trump to concede.

Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey on Saturday said Trump must "accept the outcome of the election and facilitate the presidential transition process."

On Monday evening, Trump tweeted that he had authorized officials to formally begin the transition process, however, the tweet noted: "Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good fight, and I believe we will prevail!

Since the initial tweet acknowledging the transition process would begin, Trump has continued to tweet and retweet assertions that the election was fraudulent, despite a lack of proof to back up his claims.

With reporting by Justin Heinze of Patch