Pennsylvania voting/elections reporter for @VotebeatUS, in partnership w/ @SpotlightPA. Previously investigations @lancasteronline. Tips: cwalker@votebeat.org
Buried in legal filings, PA
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"If you don't have a free press, you don't have human rights" - wise words from a journalist who helped break the Panama Papers
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I am truly at a loss on this as I have never experienced anything like it. This weekend I am running a story on the rise in hate crimes in PA, which in part deals with issues in the @statepolice__ database. Overnight, after my I sent inquiry, nearly 200 hate crimes were deleted.
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NEWS: The PA Democratic Party is say 10,000 to 20,000 mail ballot voters In Erie County have not received their ballots. They are seeking a court order to force the county to fix the issue. More soon. H/T @StephenJ_Caruso
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Yesterday the Uniform Crime Reporting database showed 72 hate crimes in 2022, 284 in 2021, and 111 in 2020. I know because I checked at the end of the day to make sure our graphics were accurate. Today, those numbers are 16, 144, and 109, respectively.
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Unfortunately the Wayback machine doesn’t do a good job at tracking this page, but here is a January press release from @GovernorTomWolf showing the number at 219 for 2021 vs. the page as it appears today.
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New: As Mastriano has traveled the state, he’s been accompanied by a personal security detail. Several members come from an evangelical church in Elizabethtown which has become increasingly politically active, and at least one has direct ties to a militia lancasteronline.com/news/pol…
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I, of course, have no evidence that this is related to my inquiry, but the timing raises my eyebrows and I will certainly be asking for their communications to check. So far the state police have offered no explanation for how 200 data points went missing overnight.
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That press release prompted me to report on the issue, and the number for 2021 continued to rise as I did and more agencies submitted their 2021 data. I reached out to the state police on Monday on what I would consider important but not earth-shatteringly scandalous issues
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But this does illustrate on of the points of the story: that this data isn't a very accurate or reliable measure of the issue.
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Tagged the wrong @PAStatePolice account. I really hope they get back to me with an answer on this because I think it makes the data wholly unreliable for anyone looking to understand or address this issue.
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with the database. On Wednesday a spokesman got back to me and I sent him some more specifics. This morning I got this response, at which point I rechecked the system and saw that 198 hate crimes were no longer counted.
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It occurred to me I do have further evidence of the removal of this data, this tweet previewing the story from a while back. A few more hate crimes were added after I tweeted this:
A snippet of the next story I'm working on: When I first looked at how many hate crimes there were in PA in 2021, I was surprised to find it was almost double the 2020 #. Today I looked to find the updated number, and I was shocked to see it was more than 2.5 times the 2021 #.
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changed from having some crimes to zero crimes. I am still skeptical, as it seems unlikely so many agencies simultaneously amended their reports.
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BREAKING: The PA Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court ruling that held counties must count provisional ballots from voters who submit flawed mail ballots. Story soon.
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I did not have the crimes broken down by agency, but I did by county (which usually includes more than one agency reporting). Comparing my saved data with the data as it is now, knowing the above answer, it seems the numbers for roughly 3 dozen counties changed, and more than 20
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New story this morning: There’s been a lot of speculation about a meeting in Quarryville three days prior to the January 6 capital riots. I was able to speak with two attendees as well as obtain a PowerPoint presentation shown at the meeting. lancasteronline.com/news/pol…
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To the follow-up, yes agencies can make adjustments to their data after they have submitted it to the system.
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Leading that security team is James Emery, a LifeGate church congregant and an Elizabethtown School Board member. But Emery is also accompanied by four other members of LifeGate, including Scott Nagle, who until recently was listed as a regional leader in the Oath Keepers
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Pence is talking about future economic plans. Says under Obama-Biden, county lost 200,000 economic jobs. In last three years economy is benefiting from less taxes, less regulation. Will continue these polices. Believes 2021 could be one of the best years for economy.
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We are sticking with the numbers from Thursday and running an editor's note noting the change and the timing of it
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I was just sent this photo a moment ago, which shows Doug Mastriano’s security team. Second from left is Scott Nagle, former Pennsylvania Oath Keeper’s Lancaster County leader. I had previously only seen photos of Nagle at one event, but this shows his security work was ongoing.
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In 2020, Emery’s son, Jay, helped lead a militia whose members attended a Black Lives Matter protest in Elizabethtown. At least one member was armed, and they stood alongside members of another militia group, the Carlisle Light Infantry.
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LifeGate's congregation has become increasingly politically active in recent year. Leaders have spoken openly about electing Christians to office to advance biblical principles. Emery and two others won seats to the school board last year, and this year seven members won seats
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to the area GOP. LifeGate's membership crosses over heavily with that of FreePA, a group of grassroots activists supporting Mastriano. Five members of that group also won seats to the Elizabethtown GOP this May in what former Etown GOP members described as a "hostile takeover."
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The senior Emery was also at that protest and part of the “Domestic Terrorism Response Organization,” an archived version of the Facebook page provided to LNP shows. Emery strenuously denied any militia connections.
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Ok, we need to get something straight because I’m seeing it everywhere: Pennsylvania does not have “early voting” that will be “starting next week.” This is a misunderstanding of how things work in PA, and the actual process is complicated by court cases this year. 🧵
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Virtual riot in south halls over suspected clown sighting @DailyCollegian #PennState
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New from LNP tonight: We were able to identify the unnamed 'Person 3' in the Proud Boy's indictment. lancasteronline.com/news/pol…
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BREAKING: in a 2-1 decision, Commonwealth Court upholds a lower court's decision which found counties have a duty to inform voters if they are going to reject their mail ballot for envelope errors like date, signature or being returned without a secrecy envelope. More to come.
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Protestors are now forming one line and telling children to go home. News that the video has been released has not been announced over any of the loudspeakers here
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UPDATE: The PA Supreme Court says the lower court order WILL NOT apply to the November 5th election. That means ballot return envelopes must be properly dated.
UPDATE: The PA GOP and RNC have appeal the Philadelphia undated/incorrectly dated ballot ruling to the state Supreme Court. Yesterday's story here:
votebeat.org/pennsylvania/20…
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A group of notorious white nationalists met secretly in historic Lancaster County barn last year. Why here? lancasteronline.com/news/pol… via @lancasteronline
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The meeting was first referenced in the May 2021 criminal complaint against Oath Keeper James Breheny. He texted OK founder Stewart Rhodes that the meeting would “be the day we get our comms on point with multiple other patriot groups, share rally points etc.”
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Police made several arrests moments ago. The streets are pretty much clear at this point. I asked if I could go in to take pictures and they said no and that they were arresting anyone who is still out.
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BREAKING: PA Commonwealth Court AFFIRMS a Philadelphia county court in Baxter/ACLU case, saying the city must count undated mail ballots. Unclear how this will apply to rest of the state. Or if it will be appealed to state Supreme Court. More to come.
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BREAKING: In case over undated/incorrectly dated mail ballots, the PA Supreme Court says the ballots “shall not be counted” for the Nov. 5 election.
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Protest in front of Lancaster police station over police shooting earlier this evening nitter.app/i/broadcasts/1yoKMXjld…
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If you’re interested in reading more about how far-right groups use radio communications to coordinate their activities, check out this report from @MicahLoewinger wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm…
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If you work in, around or follow politics in Pennsylvania, you’ve probably heard of Audit the Vote PA and their door-to-door survey which they’re holding up as proof the 2020 election was rigged. Well, they gave me their data, and it’s full of holes. 1/8 lancasteronline.com/news/pol…
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The PowerPoint which was the focus of the meeting didn’t reference J6, but both attendees - and Brehey’s attorney - told me the subject did come up after. “I know I heard one or two people were interested in (coordinating Jan. 6 communications),” said one of the participants.
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In a 4-3 ruling Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that voters deserve second chance if their mail ballots are rejected.
Story: votebeat.org/pennsylvania/20…
BREAKING: The PA Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court ruling that held counties must count provisional ballots from voters who submit flawed mail ballots. Story soon.
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Students just broke down the lamp at riot #PennState
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Some personal news: I am excited to announce that later this month, I will be joining @VotebeatUS as their Pennsylvania Reporter. In this role, I will be covering all issues voting and elections related across the Keystone state, of which there is no shortage. 1/6
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NEW: The RNC and PA GOP are asking the PA Supreme Court to stop counties from counting undated or incorrectly dated mail ballots. More to come (been working on a story on this trend).
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You may have gotten a text message this past week mentioning your voter registration or mail ballot status. Don’t click the link. It is a scam. @PAStateDept sent me this statement on how to recognize and protect yourself from the scam.
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BREAKING: Decision in for ACLU/Public Interest Law Center Commonwealth Court case on dating mail ballot envelopes. DOS/Philly/Allegheny Co. “permanently enjoined” from strictly enforcing dating requirement. Story soon.
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Protesters have set up a giant inflatable rat with the likeness of President Trump outside his rally at the Giant Center in Hersey, PA.
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The editor of a conservative publication and a Berks County pastor are planning to hold an event next week exploring whether Pennsylvania should be an “explicitly Christian state.” Critics are decrying the event for promoting Christian Nationalism. lancasteronline.com/news/loc…
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I’m here at the Clay Clark/Michael Flynn “ReAwaken America” event at Spooky Nook. I’ll let you know what I see throughout the day.
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If you don't already know, county commissioner seats are up for election in next week's primary. These officials can have tremendous influence on how elections are run. We took a look at where they stand, and here is what we found: pennsylvania.votebeat.org/20…
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The PA Freedom Caucus suit against President Biden, Governor Josh Shapiro has been dismissed. Original story from @PoliticsPA politicspa.com/pa-freedom-ca…
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Trump attorney Cleta Mitchell was recently in Harrisburg to promote her Election Integrity Network. We found Audit the Vote PA's version of that plan, which includes collecting all nursing home administrators' party affiliations lancasteronline.com/news/pol… via @lancasteronline
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.@oneunderscore__ was on @onthemedia this morning explaining how this conspiracy theory got started, and there is something he said that I really think needs to be emphasized: “get rid of the idea of political boundaries in your head.” This is a really important concept to (1/7)
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Last year, a collection of prominent white nationalists, including Mike Peinovich, held a rally in a barn on Millersville Pike in Lancaster Township to announce the formation of a new white-nationalist political party.
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Big PA election court news here: The PA Supreme Court will take up the question on whether rejecting mail ballots for dating issues violates the state constitution. This could finally bring an end to the years long debate.
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A snippet of the next story I'm working on: When I first looked at how many hate crimes there were in PA in 2021, I was surprised to find it was almost double the 2020 #. Today I looked to find the updated number, and I was shocked to see it was more than 2.5 times the 2021 #.
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This appears to be from the May 14 event in Bucks County where several security team members blocked reporters from entering. It was uploaded to Michael Joseph’s Facebook page. Joseph was the man dressed in colonial-era clothing, captured here by @ColbyItkowitz
This guy is blocking press from entering the Mastriano/Barnette rally in Philly. He won’t answer any questions or make eye contact.
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At Mastriano rally, Zimmerman reveals subpoena; militia group spotted providing security h/t @letsgomathias lancasteronline.com/news/pol…
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Have you heard that Pennsylvania had more votes than voters in 2020? That the state sent a quarter-million ballots to "unverified" voters in 2022? These, and may other election claims, are the work of Heather Honey. Latest for Votebeat/Spotlight PA: votebeat.org/pennsylvania/20…
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I recognize several others in the photo, including LifeGate members James Emery and Carl Runkle, as well as Joe Augeri, who also provides security to FreePA founder Tabitha Valleau, and Constable Dom Brown. For more on the security team: lancasteronline.com/news/pol…
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In his speech Peinovich said “you cannot have a nation of justice, a nation of liberty, without a white majority forever,” “races don’t necessarily need to mix together all the time,” and that the party’s enemy is “capitalism, Zionism and the international Jewish oligarchy”
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NEW: From my colleague @JenAFifield, documents obtained by @weareoversight and provided to @VotebeatUS show that Republican-led states are struggling to clean voter rolls after leaving ERIC votebeat.org/2023/12/13/clea…
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Not true. Voter registration applications. Only a subset of the *2500 are being reviewed as potentially fraudulent. And none of the potential fraudulent voter registration applications have resulted in an ineligible voter getting a ballot. votebeat.org/pennsylvania/20…
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It is inaccurate for @CommissionerRD to say in this @WGAL interview that Lancaster County has had no problems with certification. In 2022, the county declined to include certain ballots in its primary results, and had to be sued into compliance. wgal.com/article/lancaster-c…
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You can track the cases here: pa.gov/en/agencies/dos/progr…
Direct voters to their county elections office for info about when their county will have ballots ready: pa.gov/en/agencies/vote/cont…
Rant over.
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Peinovich - who once gave an introduction for former Klu Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke - and other founding members of the National Justice Party have a long history of anti-Semitic remarks.
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We do have somewhat of a work around with mail voting. Voters can go into their county elections office and request, fill out and return a mail ballot on the spot. The real issue is that this process won’t be starting next week. September 16 is the date by which counties have to
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For more on Mike Peinovich himself, @andrewmarantz of The New Yorker did a great profile of him after he appeared at the 2017 Unite the Right rally newyorker.com/magazine/2017/…
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How do we know PA’s voting machines are secure? Check out this voter-focused explainer I did. This is the first article in a series @SpotlightPA will be doing leading up to the election aimed at demystifying all aspects of the election process.
spotlightpa.org/news/2024/02…
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Conte is an ex-substitute teach from Maryland who was let go from his district once his white-nationalist afflictions were made known
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Happy to share that my work at @VotebeatUS Pennsylvania was recognized with the Election Verification Network’s 2024 Pacesetter Journalism Award! This makes 3 for the Votebeat team! Follow my colleagues/fellow recipients @NataliaECG @JenAFifield for all your 2024 election news!
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vendors and mailed to the counties for voting to start next week. These details matter because people are going to hear this and start going into elections offices next week and getting confused/upset about being told they can’t vote yet.
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BREAKING NEWS: RNC and PA GOP have filed a King's Bench petition with the PA Supreme Court challenging mail ballot notice and cure procedures around the state. More to come.
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Bradford County, a county which previously allowed voters to fix errors with their mail ballots (date, signature, secrecy envelope) has voted to discontinue their curing policy for the upcoming election.
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I’m not even clear on what is being alleged in this post. Reminder, these generic claims of fraud in Philadelphia are part of a well-worn playbook. votebeat.org/pennsylvania/20…
There is absolutely no truth to this allegation. It is yet another example of disinformation. Voting in Philadelphia has been safe and secure.
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Getting a new driver’s license? Pennsylvania will now register you to vote, too. @GovernorShapiro moves to implement automatic voter registration. pennsylvania.votebeat.org/20…
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elections office . But the ballots will not be ready next week. Several lawsuits from third-party candidates seeking ballot access are delaying the printing of ballots. It’s unclear when they will be resolved, but at this point it’s likely too late for them to be printed by
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Former Homeland Security Sec. Michael Chertoff’s decision to endorse Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, over Republican Doug Mastriano, for governor may seem odd, but he and several other Rs who also support Shapiro, say their priority goes beyond their party: the fate of our democracy.
‘Commonwealth before party’: Why some Republicans are endorsing Shapiro for Pa. governor lancasteronline.com/news/pol… by @lancasteronline's @CarterLNP
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Party founder Joseph Jordan, who writes under the name “Eric Striker,” once wrote in The Daily Stormer that “the Jew is the virus that launches many infections against our national body’s White blood cells ... we must eliminate this virus before it brings about our Demise.”
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Breaking news in another court case: Commonwealth Court has REVERSED a Butler County judge's ruling, which said the county was within its rights to not count provisional ballots from voters who submit naked mail ballots. County/GOP has 3 days to appeal.
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UPDATE: After Casey conceded last night, he asked DOS to end the recount. DOS sent this email counties last night at 10 p.m.:
“As a result, I am informing you that county election offices that have not yet completed the recount of the U.S. Senate race are not required to do so.”
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The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a Republican application to halt a Pennsylvania case that allowed voters who make errors on their mail ballots to vote a provisional ballot and have it counted. That means this option will be available to voters on Tuesday.votebeat.org/pennsylvania/20…
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Person 3 is a Proud Boy who uses the alias “Johnny Blackbeard,” LNP |Lancaster Online was able to confirm.
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Greg Conte, a party founder still living at the barn, used his Telegram to praise American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell. In another message to his 1,400 subscribers, he wrote, “It’s sad that Hitler didn’t win.”
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Pennsylvania has been one of the most active states for Patriot Front. Newly released data reveals their operation in PA and the white supremacist beliefs their members try to conceal behind patriotic symbols. lancasteronline.com/news/pen…
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I’m here at the U.S. Senate recount in Philly where workers have already made it through about 80,000 ballots. That’s a pace of about 20,000 an hour.
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start processing mail ballot applications, but not necessarily sending them out or providing them to voters at the office counter. If the ballots were proofread, printed and in elections officials’ hands on that day, voters could theoretically start voting “early” at the
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Philadelphia is just about done with its mail ballots. As of roughly 2 p.m., 193,558 had been counted out of the 202,713 returned.
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Good morning! I’m here in beautiful Lycoming County where county officials are set to begin a hand recount of the 2020 presidential election. If you’re wondering why, check out this preview. I’ll post updates here on what I see throughout the day/week.
This Pa. county is about to start a hand recount of its 2020 presidential election results, via @ByCarterWalker for @VotebeatUS and @SpotlightPA spotlightpa.org/news/2023/01…
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According to a statement from @PAStateDept, @Bob_Casey did not waive the recount by noon today.
"Once the Secretary receives unofficial returns from all counties, he will determine whether an automatic statewide recount has been triggered in the U.S. Senate race. If he
The U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania is within the margin for a recount. Unless Sen. Casey concedes today by noon, looks like it will move forward. I have been trying to reach his campaign’s spokesperson to ask if that will happen, but have not yet received a response.
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