Trump Campaign Adviser Flashes Court Order Granting Closer Ballot Observation in Philadelphia

An adviser to Donald Trump flashed a court order to a crowd outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia as the campaign fought for closer access to monitor ballot counting on Thursday, November 5.

A Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court judge on Thursday issued an order allowing canvassing monitors to stand within six feet of the counting process and observe “all aspects” of it, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Trump’s ballot monitors previously made complaints that they were kept too far from the counting process to “meaningfully ensure the validity of the ballots being counted,” reports said.

Ballot counting was put on a “brief pause” as election officials worked to accommodate the Commonwealth Court order on Thursday. The Inquirer reported that Philadelphia officials appealed the ruling to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, but it’s unclear if the case will be considered.

Jason Peters said this footage shows Corey Lewandowski, senior adviser to the Trump-Pence campaign, flashing the Commonwealth Court order near the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The footage also shows crowds of protesters gathered in the area, with some rallying in support of Trump and another group calling for officials to “count every vote.”

As of Thursday afternoon, there were more than 360,000 mail-in ballots left to count in Pennsylvania, local media reported, citing state data. Trump was leading in the key battleground state with 50.32 percent of the votes and Joe Biden with 48.53 percent. Credit: Jason Peters via Storyful