Trump Team Withdraws Dispute Over 4K Montco Provisional Ballots

NORRISTOWN, PA — Challenges made by the Republican Party to thousands of provisional ballots cast in Montgomery County during the 2020 election were withdrawn during a hearing Thursday morning.

The bulk of the 4,233 challenges were part of a blanket dispute made by GOP lawyers to anyone in the county who received a mail-in ballot but then decided, for whatever reason, to instead cast a provisional ballot at their polling place. After a pre-hearing discussion between the county and counsel for the GOP, that blanket challenge was withdrawn.

>>4,200 Provisional Ballots Challenged In Montco; Hearing Scheduled

"We have an awesome responsibility today to get this right on behalf of the people of Pennsylvania," Jonathan Goldstein, an attorney with President Trump's campaign, said before promptly agreeing to the withdrawal.

Not all of the challenges were covered by the original blanket dispute; other reasons for challenges made by poll watchers affiliated with both parties included missing signatures and blank data fields. Of the 4,233 originally challenged ballots, only 16 challenges were upheld.

The initial challenge expressed concerns that voters who requested mail-ins but then voted in person would have their vote counted twice. Elections judges were called as witnesses to explain the process to certify each ballot.

"There is no possibility of a double vote by any of those individuals," Montgomery County Solicitor Joshua Stein said.

More precise data on the party affiliation of voters who cast these provisional ballots was not available.

Numerous lawsuits have been filed in Montgomery County and Pennsylvania by the Trump team challenging the validity of the election results. As he has in other cases in which he represents the GOP's interests, Goldstein was careful to articulate that he wanted only to ensure a legal election.

>>Montgomery Co. Named In Trump Campaign's Latest Election Lawsuit

President Trump's team lawsuits have claimed, without evidence, that elections officials in Montgomery County and Pennsylvania broke the law in not providing equal security for in-person voting and mail-in voting.

Thousands of Montgomery County voters were notified by phone over the past week that challenges had been made to their ballots, and some were none too happy.

"My vote was about as safe and foolproof as you can get, and still the GOP has picked on my provisional ballot," Wynnewood resident Amy Keyser told Patch. She said she voted at the Green Hill Condominiums and that a county judge helped her fill out the forms for her provisional ballot.

"A perfectly kosher ballot is being challenged because of my handwriting and the county judge's," she added. "I have voted since I was of age, and this is one vote they will not take from me."

Representatives from the Montgomery County Democratic Committee spoke firmly against the effort.

"Many of these challenges were made by out of state observers with no understanding of our laws," said Tim Ford, the solicitor for the local Democratic Party.

The remainder will be reconciled and counted as legal, the Board of Elections agreed at the meeting's conclusion.