Republican Lawsuit Against Montco Over Mail-In Ballots Withdrawn

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — The day after a federal judge greeted their claims about "cured" ballots skeptically in court, a lawsuit filed against Montgomery County by the local GOP has been withdrawn.

The suit, entered by Republicans and Congressional candidate in the 4th District, Kathy Barnette, claimed that the county violated election law by notifying voters of errors on their ballots, allowing them to fix the mistakes and return the corrected ballots.

In withdrawing the suit, Republicans cited similar pending litigation challenging the election in Pennsylvania.

"Due to the timing of these proceedings and the pendency of a hearing scheduled (Friday in Harrisburg)...plaintiffs believe that a Temporary Restraining Order in this case will be ineffective in addressing the matters covered in their Motion, and, therefore, withdraw their Motion," according to documents filed in federal court on Thursday afternoon.

>>Judge Casts Doubt On Barnette Lawsuit Against Montco Over Ballots

Montgomery County maintained that they did no wrong. Though it's believed that only 93 ballots were being called into questions, officials on Wednesday maintained that it was important to fight this challenge in court.

"I think it's important that people have the right to vote," Commissioner Ken Lawrence said. "And I think what we're doing in this circumstance is, we're making sure people have the right to vote."

Barnette, who was defeated soundly by incumbent U.S. Congresswoman Madeleine Dean in the 4th District (though she has refused to concede), appeared on Fox and Friends Thursday to address the election. When asked about the suit, however, she did not address it, but rather echoed President Trump's unspecific claims about election security in Pennsylvania.

"We have a voter integrity issue here in Pennsylvania, and specifically in my district," she said on the show. "When my team was finally allowed access to (where votes were being counted), we saw a bin on wheels with several thousand ballots, unsecured."

Barnette then suggested that there was a "story of two elections": the early count in which she said she was leading over Dean, and the "election which occurred over 30 days." She went on to liken mail-in voting to turning American democracy into something akin to "elections in Afghanistan."

Judge Timothy Savage, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002, expressed pessimism over the validity of the GOP suit in Wednesday's hearing.

"I don't understand how the integrity of the election was affected," he said.

This is a breaking story. Check back for updates as they become available.