Gonghwa Attempts to Invalidate Pennsylvania Mail-in Ballots Before Federal Supreme Court

Biden Takes Lead by 0.2 Percentage Points After Election Turnaround

Supporters of President Trump are protesting in Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, demanding a halt to the counting of mail-in ballots. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The U.S. Republican Party has requested the federal Supreme Court to order that mail-in ballots arriving after Election Day in Pennsylvania not be included in the count. This is presumed to be an attempt to invalidate mail-in ballots that could determine the outcome, after President Donald Trump allowed a last-minute reversal by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in the area.

According to U.S. media including AP on the 6th (local time), the Pennsylvania Republican Party asked the federal Supreme Court to order the state election authorities to separate mail-in ballots arriving after Election Day from other ballots during the count.

The Republicans said, "Pennsylvania's votes may decide the next president," and added, "It is unclear whether the election boards in 67 counties are properly separating ballots that arrived after Election Day."

They also claimed that if they win the lawsuit, the state authorities are not taking sufficient measures to invalidate ballots arriving after Election Day.

Earlier, when Pennsylvania extended the counting deadline to include mail-in ballots arriving up to three days after Election Day, the Republicans filed a lawsuit to block it, but the state Supreme Court rejected it.

Regarding this, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said that very few mail-in ballots arrived after Election Day and that the current count only includes those received by Election Day, adding, "I believe this will not have a significant impact on the race no matter what happens."

With 96% of the votes counted in Pennsylvania, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden leads President Trump by 14,000 votes, a margin of 0.2 percentage points, making victory likely. If Biden wins Pennsylvania, he can secure his victory in this presidential election.

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