Allegheny County Certifies General Election Vote Count

PITTSBURGH, PA — The Allegheny County Board of Elections voted 2-1 Monday to certify votes cast for the Nov. 3 general election that are not part of any legal challenge. County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and county councilwoman Bethany Hallam, both Democrats, voted to certify; Republican county councilman Sam DeMarco voted against the move.

There's only about 2,500 votes being contested in court, so that means President-elect Joe Biden is the official presidential election winner in the county. Biden received 429,065 votes to President Donald Trump's 282,324.

All of Pennsylvania's 67 counties are certifying votes today after a last-ditch Trump campaign lawsuit challenging the results in Pennsylvania was dismissed by a judge over the weekend. The lawsuit alleged that election officials in Democratic-majority counties permitted voters to fix errors on their mail-in ballots.

"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.

The certifications across the state today will officially make Biden the winner in Pennsylvania and award him the state's 20 electoral college votes. Biden won the state by more than 80,000 votes in the election.