Montco Certifies 2020 Election Results Over Joe Gale's Objection

NORRISTOWN, PA — The final election results in Montgomery County were approved during a meeting Monday afternoon over the objections of Republican Commissioner Joe Gale, who expressed his disagreement with mail-in voting.

Monday marked the deadline for counties across the state to send certified election results to the Pennsylvania Department of State, even as President Trump appeals the rejection of his latest legal challenge aiming to overturn his loss to President-elect Joe Biden.

The commissioners voted 2-1 to certify the results, noting the unprecedented challenges the process has faced in 2020

"This year we faced numerous legal challenges aimed to prevent our residents from having their ballots cast, unlike anything we have faced in previous elections," Montgomery County Elections Chair Ken Lawrence Jr. said Monday.

RELATED: Trump Appeals In PA As Election Certification Deadline Looms

The certification of final results may be smoother in Montgomery County than elsewhere. The Department of State continues to work closely with and support all 67 counties as they work to complete the election certification process," department spokeswoman Wanda Murren said in an email to Patch.

In voting against the certification, Gale echoed much of the language used by the Trump campaign in their ongoing litigation, calling mail-in balloting a "travesty" and that election certification should be put up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gale cited "widely publicized irregularities, ongoing litigation, and the massive number of unverified mail-in ballots cast this year" in his decision to vote no.

"Frankly, no one should be voting nearly two months before Election Day," he said.

Lawrence said that mail-in balloting was secure and there was no evidence of fraud.

The GOP issued challenges to more than 4,000 provisional ballots in the county. These challenges were all either withdrawn or overturned.

There were 14 challenges to ballots made on Election Day. Ten of them were made by the GOP, asking for the ballots to be dismissed, but these requests were all subsequently withdrawn. Four were made by the Democratic Party, and these were upheld by the Board of Elections.

None of the decisions by the Board of Elections were appealed to the county Court of Common Pleas, Lawrence said.

Officials praised the efforts of hundreds of county employees and volunteers who helped ensure the election ran smoothly.

"This year we had a presidential election, a pandemic, mail-in balloting, and Election Code changes," Lawrence said. "All of which required hundreds of people to assist."

All told 266 county employees worked on the election, in addition to 3,104 poll workers at 298 in-person voting sites around the county.

"This is really what democracy is all about," Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh added. "It's about our entire community coming together to help everyone out."