Judge Slams Brakes On Trump Campaign's PA Mail-In Voting Lawsuit

PITTSBURGH, PA — A U.S. District Court judge has halted - at least temporarily - President Trump's plan to sue Pennsylvania over voting by mail in November.

Judge Nicholas Ranjan of the U.S. District Court of Western Pennsylvania decided on Sunday that the federal lawsuit, filed in June, should be placed on hold while state cases about voting move forward, according to CNN.

"After carefully considering the arguments raised by the parties, the Court finds that the appropriate course is abstention, at least for the time being," Ranjan wrote on Sunday. "In other words, the Court will apply the brakes to this lawsuit, and allow the Pennsylvania state courts to weigh in and interpret the state statutes that undergird Plaintiffs' federal- constitutional
claims."

Trump's re-election campaign, the Republican National Committee and several GOP Pennsylvania congressmen sued state and county elections officials seeking a federal court to bar voting by mail in the state in the November election.

The lawsuit alleges that the way the ballot boxes were used in the June 2 primary was unconstitutional.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, was filed against Kathy Boockvar, Pennsylvania's secretary of state, and the boards of elections of the state's 67 counties. Joining the Trump campaign and the RNC as plaintiffs in the case were Republican U.S. Reps. Glenn Thompson, Mike Kelly, John Joyce and Guy Reschenthaler.

The lawsuit contends that upending the election process and undermining ballot security is the single greatest threat to free and fair elections.

"Elections must be transparent and verifiable," the lawsuit states. "Yet, defendants have inexplicably chosen a path that jeopardizes election security and will lead — and has already led — to the disenfranchisement of voters, questions about the accuracy of election results, and ultimately chaos heading into the upcoming November 3, 2020 General Election."