PHILADELPHIA — Democrat Joe Biden was on the cusp of winning the presidency on Friday as he opened up narrow leads over President Donald Trump in the critical battleground states of Pennsylvania and Georgia.
Those put Biden in a stronger position to capture the 270 Electoral College votes needed to take the White House. The winner will lead a country facing a historic set of challenges, including a surging pandemic and deep political polarization.
A statewide appellate court judge in Pennsylvania has dismissed a request from Republicans to stop the state or counties from counting provisional ballots that were cast by voters whose mail-in ballots were disqualified by a technicality.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s state elections bureau last month gave guidance to counties that a voter could use a provisional ballot if they “did not successfully vote” with the mail-in or absentee ballot they were issued, or if their ballot was rejected and they believe they are eligible to vote.
The Democratic National Committee, which had sought to oppose the case in court, said Republicans wanted to “throw out lawfully cast provisional ballots.”
Wolf’s top elections official, Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar, a Democrat, has insisted that the practice is legal and not prohibited by law.
Regardless, she said there aren’t “overwhelming” numbers of voters who cast a provisional ballot after their mail-in ballot was disqualified, but she has not given an exact figure.
Below is a map and tally showing how Pennsylvania has been voting. See a full electoral map from the AP here.
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