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Year: 2024

Pennsylvania mail-in ballots without correct dates will not be counted, court rules

Pennsylvania mail-in ballots without correct dates will not be counted, court rules

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Friday that mail-in ballots without the correct dates on envelopes cannot be counted in elections, a decision which could prove crucial in this year’s presidential election where 19 electoral college votes are up for grabs. The state’s high court ruled on procedural grounds, saying a lower court that found the mandate unenforceable should not have taken up the case because it did not draw in the election boards in all 67 counties. Left-leaning groups that filed the case only sued two of them, Philadelphia and Allegheny counties. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said the lower Commonwealth Court “lacked subject matter jurisdiction to review the matter,” according to a court filing. TRUMP CRUSHING HARRIS IN PENNSYLVANIA BAKERY’S ELECTION ‘COOKIE POLL’: ‘PEOPLE ARE UPSET’ Commonwealth Court two weeks ago halted enforcement of the handwritten dates on exterior envelopes. Friday’s ruling now means mail-in ballots must be properly dated in order to be counted enforceable.  The ruling was welcomed by Republicans as a victory for voter integrity in the hotly contested state, while voting rights advocates including the American Civil Liberties Union said they will look at pursuing additional legal options. President Joe Biden won the state by more than 80,000 votes in 2020, and former President Trump and Vice-President Harris have been campaigning in the Keystone State this week. Over 800,000 people requested mail ballots for April’s primary election where officials disqualified nearly 16,000 mail-in ballots for irregularities. Almost half were disqualified because of issues such as missing signatures and wrong dates on outer envelopes, according to the New York Times. About 75% of the mail-in ballots requested were made by Democrats.  Around 2.5 million Pennsylvanians voted by mail in 2020, according to a lawsuit filed by Republicans in the aftermath of the election which sought to declare universal mail-in voting unconstitutional. HARRIS, TRUMP ENTER POST-DEBATE ‘HOMESTRETCH’ WITH DUELING RALLIES IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said the Friday ruling was a “huge” win for election integrity. “Following legal action from the RNC and @PAGOP [Republican Party of Pennsylvania], the PA Supreme Court REJECTED a Democrat attempt to count undated ballots,” Whatley wrote. “This makes mail voting in the Keystone State less susceptible to fraud. We will keep fighting and winning!” Steve Loney, the senior supervising attorney for the ACLU in Pennsylvania, said the ruling was a setback for Pennsylvania voters. “These eligible voters who got their ballots in on time should have their votes counted and voices heard,” Loney said. “The fundamental right to vote is among the most precious rights we enjoy as Pennsylvanians, and it should take more than a trivial paperwork error to take it away.” The justices ruled 4-3, with two Democrats joining both Republicans on the Supreme Court to vacate the Commonwealth Court decision. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The dissent by three other Democratic justices said the high court should have taken up the dispute. “A prompt and definitive ruling on the constitutional question presented in this appeal is of paramount public importance inasmuch as it will affect the counting of ballots in the upcoming general election,” wrote Justice David Wecht. He and the two other dissenters would have ruled on the matter based on written briefs. Prior to the 2020 election, Republicans sought to prevent mail-in ballots received after election day from being counted, but ultimately, the Supreme Court sided with the Pennsylvania Supreme court decision allowing ballots to be counted if they were received within three days of election day, even if they did not have a legible postmark. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Ohio town’s migrant crisis caused by Biden-Harris: Moreno

Ohio town’s migrant crisis caused by Biden-Harris: Moreno

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno took aim at the Biden administration, arguing that the issues faced by residents of this city can be traced back to policies in Washington, D.C. Moreno, who is trying to unseat Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown, spoke at an event in the city that has recently been thrust into the center of the national immigration debate. Residents say the federal government’s decision to settle as many as 20,000 Haitian immigrants in the city of 60,000 has caused widespread problems. “What’s going on in this community is a total disgrace,” Moreno said. “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, with the help of their number one ally in the United States Senate, Sherrod Brown, have absolutely corrupted our immigration laws to allow a mass, uncontrolled amount of immigration to come to a community like Springfield.”  The Buckeye State’s other senator, JD Vance, who is running for vice president, has also spoken out about the issue since former President Donald Trump raised it during his debate earlier this week against Vice President Kamala Harris. “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country,” Vance wrote in a post on X this week. “Where is our border czar?” HAITIAN REFUGEES ‘DON’T UNDERSTAND THE LAWS,’ FORMER LAWMAKER SAYS AMID FATAL WRECK, CULTURAL CLASHES “They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” Trump said during a response to a question about immigration. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.” While the claims made by Trump and Vance have not been proven, there is little dispute about Springfield struggling to absorb the influx of Haitian migrants. According to former Ohio State Rep. Kyle Koehler, that has caused some issues in the community. “We’ve got an influx of folks that have come in, and I think we were a little bit shocked that it was close to 20,000 people in a community of 60,000, and that’s caused some issues between the folks that live here and the folks that are coming in,” Koehler, a Republican now running for state senate, told Fox News Digital. Koehler noted that many of the issues can be chalked up to differences in culture, which have been hard to overcome when new people have been coming into Springfield at such a high rate. However, the Republican also noted some other issues faced by the community, including a dramatic spike in traffic accidents. SPRINGFIELD PASTORS SPEAK OUT ON HAITIAN REFUGEE CHALLENGES: ‘THE SUFFERING IS REAL’ “We do have a really abnormal number of car accidents that are happening,” Koehler said. “And it’s not only the number, but the severity of them. When you go on a street that is a 35-mile-an-hour speed limit, and there’s a car sitting on its hood, and I’m not talking about one, I’m talking about five or six accidents a week like that, you begin to wonder.” Moreno highlighted other issues faced by the community during his Saturday event, pointing to schools that have struggled to handle the surge of new students who don’t speak English. “No country on earth would allow to happen what’s happening here,” Moreno said. The Senate candidate vowed to help fix the immigration system if elected, promising that he would work to end the Temporary Protection Status program, which has been the primary driver of migration to Springfield, by letting it expire in 2026 while putting a new program with more strict requirements in place. “Our leaders have failed to address it,” Moreno said, responding to comments by Brown that accused Republicans of using the situation in Springfield for political gain. “Where is Sherrod Brown by the way? . . . Where is he helping the citizens of Springfield resolve this problem?” Moreno also argued that it wasn’t the fault of migrants or local leaders in Springfield that the situation in the town has reached this point, instead pointing to Democrats in Washington. “They didn’t cause this problem. It wasn’t a fair problem,” Moreno said. “This was dumped on them by corrupt federal elected leaders that weren’t looking out for the people in Springfield.”

RFK Jr urges Biden not to approve long-range missiles for Ukraine: ‘Reckless escalation’

RFK Jr urges Biden not to approve long-range missiles for Ukraine: ‘Reckless escalation’

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slammed President Biden’s administration for continuing to provide Ukraine with long-range missiles on Saturday, arguing it was a major escalation of the conflict. Kennedy called out both Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. He made the comment in relation to reporting that the U.S. is set to approve Ukraine using long-range missiles to strike inside Russia. “Secretary Blinken, President Biden — STOP IT! Stop this reckless escalation. I say this not as a political partisan, but simply as a citizen of the world,” Kennedy wrote. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his regime will “take appropriate decisions based on the threats.” LATVIA AND ROMANIA CONFIRM RUSSIAN INCURSIONS INTO NATO TERRITORY The U.S. and other Western nations have prohibited Ukraine from using NATO-supplies weapons in attacks on Russian territory, demanding they only be used for defensive purposes. RUSSIA, CHINA HOLD BIGGEST WARGAMES SINCE SOVIET ERA Since then, however, Ukraine has launched multiple incursions into Russia in an attempt to turn the tide of the conflict. Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskyy has also been pushing the U.S. and NATO to remove the targeting restrictions for months. But Putin on Thursday drew a red line and said, “This will mean that NATO countries, the U.S. and European countries are at war with Russia.” “And if this is so, then, bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be created for us,” he added, according to a translation posted by NBC News. UKRAINE HITS MOSCOW IN LARGEST DRONE STRIKE SINCE WAR BEGAN Putin has made threats about conflict with the U.S. and NATO throughout his invasion of Ukraine, warning Western powers to stay out of it. International support for Ukraine has turned the invasion into a costly one for Putin. “Putin’s war in Ukraine has been a massive failure – hundreds of thousands of casualties, a brain drain, a million Russians have fled, Sweden and Finland are now NATO members, the list goes on,” former CIA Moscow station chief Dan Hoffman told Fox News Digital. “The only thing he succeeded at is rhetorical nuclear brinkmanship and other threats, trying to induce the Biden administration not to give Ukraine what they need, when they need it, to defend themselves.” Hoffman said Putin’s remarks were likely tailored to Biden and his administration, which has repeatedly been slow to send Ukraine sorely needed defense equipment like tanks, F-16s and long-range ATACMS missiles before then reversing course and eventually agreeing to send the top weaponry. “He makes these threats because he knows they work,” Hoffman argued. “We shouldn’t be micromanaging how [Ukrainians] conduct their war. Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report

Former aide to New York Gov. Hochul, who is accused of being Chinese spy, went on a tour of the White House

Former aide to New York Gov. Hochul, who is accused of being Chinese spy, went on a tour of the White House

A former aide to Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is now accused by the Justice Department of acting as a Chinese spy, went on a tour of the White House earlier this year, a White House official has confirmed to Fox News Digital.  Linda Sun’s visit to the White House was facilitated by another Democrat, Rep. Grace Meng of Queens, and consisted of “a walking tour through historic rooms and [did] not include access to White House offices, personnel, or non-public information,” the official said.  “Tours are available to any members of the public, through congressional offices, and this was arranged through that standard process, by Rep. Meng,” the official also told Fox News Digital.   The New York Post cited a source as saying that Sun’s tour in May came as she was already under investigation, and days after it happened, she posted on Facebook: “Tour of the White House [check emoji], See our favorite Congresswoman [check emoji], Tour of the Capitol with our favorite Congresswoman [check emoji].”  FORMER AIDE TO DEMOCRATIC NY GOVERNOR ARRESTED IN FEDERAL CASE  A spokesperson for Meng told the newspaper that Sun and Meng took a photo on the steps outside the House chamber and that “Obviously, nobody knew anything about what she is now accused of doing which continues to be deeply troubling and shocking.”  “If anything was known, her request would have clearly not been considered. The tour does not include the Oval Office, West Wing, interaction with officials or anything along those lines,” the spokesperson reportedly added.  Authorities arrested both Sun, 40, and her husband, Chris Hu, 41, at the start of September.  Sun is charged with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering conspiracy. She is alleged to have acted on behalf of the government of China and the Chinese Communist Party. Hochul fired Sun last year after her office discovered evidence of misconduct.  “This individual was hired by the Executive Chamber more than a decade ago. We terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, immediately reported her actions to law enforcement, and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process,” Hochul’s office said in a statement.  HOUSE REPUBLICANS PRESS GOV. HOCHUL ON ALLEGED CHINA COMMUNIST PARTY AGENT’S INFLUENCE IN NEW YORK  The FBI had raided Sun’s home on Long Island in New York in late July, but no arrests were made at the time.  In a federal indictment, prosecutors allege Sun, acting on behalf of the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party, “engaged in numerous political activities in the interests of the PRC and the CCP, including blocking representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to the NYS governor’s office.”  They said Sun provided “unauthorized invitation letters from the office of the NYS governor that were used to facilitate travel by PRC government officials into the United States for meetings with NYS government officials.”  “In return for these and other actions, the defendant Linda Sun received substantial economic and other benefits from representatives of the PRC government and the CCP,” the indictment read.  “Sun and Hu laundered the monetary proceeds of this scheme to purchase, among other items, real estate property in Manhasset, New York for $3.6 million, a condominium in Honolulu, Hawaii for $1.9 million, and various luxury automobiles, including a 2024 Ferrari,” it also said. “Sun never disclosed any benefits she received from representatives of the PRC government and the CCP to the NYS government, as she was required to do as a NYS government employee.”  Meng’s office did not immediately respond Saturday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.  Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom and David Spunt contributed to this report.