PA election official apologizes for remarks on ignoring election laws
A Pennsylvania election official is facing backlash after comments she made about disregarding court rulings to count ballots that had been deemed invalid by the courts. Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia apologized Wednesday, Nov. 20, for saying, “precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country.”
“The passion in my heart got the best of me, and I apologize again for that,” Diane Ellis-Marseglia said during a commissioner’s meeting. “We all make mistakes, and I made a mistake. Because I am an elected official, I am held to a far higher standard than everybody else.”
The comments were made during a public meeting, where the commissioner and another commissioner voted to count about 600 ballots that lacked signatures or dates. These ballots had been ruled invalid by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court before the election.
The decision has sparked strong objections from local Republicans and legal experts, particularly as it comes amid a closely watched recount in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race, where Republican Dave McCormick narrowly defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey by fewer than 20,000 votes.
While the commissioner apologized for her comments disregarding legal precedent, she defended the decision to count the ballots, arguing that rejecting them would “disenfranchise voters” over what she described as clerical errors.
Bucks County voted to count the invalid ballots despite the state’s highest court ruling against it. However, after a lawsuit from McCormick’s campaign, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered all counties to “abide by its past rulings” and refrain from counting undated and unsigned ballots.
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, D, weighed in this week, siding with the GOP position, stating, “Any insinuation that our laws can be ignored or do not matter is irresponsible and does damage to faith in our electoral process.”
Trump staffer says Pa. election officials will get jail time over recount
President-elect Donald Trump’s co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita is predicting election officials in Pennsylvania will face jail time after going against a Supreme Court ruling and counting mail-in ballots with either incorrect or missing dates. LaCivita posted to X, “They will go to jail – count on it.”
Pennsylvania is in the middle of a recount with Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey refusing to concede the race against Republican Senator-elect Dave McCormick.
Before the election, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled mail-in ballots that lacked required signatures or dates couldn’t be included in the official tally of votes.
Democratic-run election boards in Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery counties opposed the ruling. All three counties voted to include the ballots in the recount.
On Monday, Nov. 18, the state Supreme Court ordered the counties to abide by its previous rulings to not count the disputed mail-in ballots.
Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro asked the election boards to respect the court’s decision.
“The rule of law matters in this commonwealth, and as I have always said, it is critical for counties and officials in both parties to respect it with both their rhetoric and their actions,” Shapiro said in a statement.
As of the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 19, McCormick leads Casey by more than 17,000 votes.
WaPo calls Pa. Democrats’ push to count invalid ballots undemocratic
Tensions are rising in Pennsylvania’s Senate race, where some Democratic election officials are defying recent court rulings on counting ballots after The Associated Press called the race for Republican Dave McCormick. However, some efforts to defy court orders to count certain ballots are being viewed as undemocratic, according to The Washington Post editorial board.
Before the election, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court ruled provisional ballots were required to be signed in two places and mail-in ballots were to be dated. However, Democratic leaders in several counties are challenging those mandates.
The AP reported four counties voted to count mail-in ballots that were in question.
Lawyers for Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn., requested the action. Casey is trailing McCormick by about 24,000 votes.
Nearly all of the 7 million ballots cast have already been counted. Casey is allowed to request a recount due to the narrow margin.
The issue of counting mail-in and provisional ballots has been contentious in Pennsylvania. Lower courts have already litigated the issue and the state’s Supreme Court ruled it’s illegal to count ballots missing required signatures and dates for the 2024 election.
“I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country,” Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia said. “People violate laws anytime they want. So, for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention.”
Local Democratic officials argue the court got it wrong and is invalidating votes over clerical errors. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court is made up of five Democratic justices and two Republicans.
“The mere attempt to defy judicial rulings is corrosive to democracy and invites similar behavior in future elections,” The Post’s editorial board wrote.
“Democrats would surely protest if a Republican commissioner made the same statement to justify tipping the scales for their party’s Senate nominee—and they would be right. Elections need rules, established in advance of the voting, and those rules must be applied equally and consistently,” the board added.
While most election results this cycle have been accepted, three candidates have yet to concede, including Casey in Pennsylvania, Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake in Arizona and Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde in Wisconsin.
Gaetz resigns from Congress after being picked as Trump’s attorney general
President-elect Donald Trump has made his selection for attorney general: Rep. Matt Gaetz. Why it might be an uphill battle for the Florida congressman to get confirmed. And we now know in a clean sweep, Republicans won control of the House of Representatives. Who GOP lawmakers voted to lead them in the next term. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
Gaetz resigns from Congress after being picked as Trump’s attorney general
President-elect Trump selected more names for key cabinet positions on Wednesday, Nov. 13, including nominating Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general. That choice is being met with opposition from some Senate Republicans — who would need to confirm the pick.
“I think out of deference to us, he issued his resignation letter effective immediately,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said of Gaetz’s decision. “That caught us by surprise a little bit. But I asked him what the reasoning was, and he said, ‘Well, you can’t have too many absences.’ So, under Florida state law there is about an eight-week period to select and fill a vacant seat.”
Johnson said Gaetz’s resignation started the clock for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to call for a special election to fill the vacancy, which will narrow Republicans’ slight majority in the House.
In making his nomination, Trump called Gaetz a “deeply gifted and tenacious attorney…who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice.”
A bipartisan House Ethics Committee is in the final stages of its own investigation into Gaetz. Gaetz told the committee in September he was done cooperating with its investigation.
His resignation would put an end to that investigation, as the Ethics Committee does not have jurisdiction over former House members.
Trump’s announcement came during the House Republicans’ closed door leadership election, with lawmakers telling several news outlets that there were “audible gasps” in the room when they heard the pick.
In response to Gaetz’s nomination, multiple senators went on record not throwing their full support behind the decision. One senator told Fox News Gaetz “will never be confirmed” and another said it “ain’t gonna happen.”
Gaetz’s office has not responded to the criticism. Gaetz himself issued a statement on social media in response to the nod from the president-elect, saying, “It will be an honor to serve as President Trump’s Attorney General!”
Johnson wins nomination for speaker as GOP takes House majority
The landscape of Congress in the new year became clearer on Wednesday with Republicans winning enough seats to control the House. Victories in Arizona and California gave the GOP the 218 seats needed to make up the majority in the chamber.
Republicans will now have control of the House and the Senate when President-elect Trump takes office. GOP lawmakers voted on leadership in both chambers Wednesday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson won the nomination to remain on the job for another two years. A full house vote will take place in January. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and GOP Whip Tom Emmer were also reelected in their leadership roles.
In the Senate, Republican John Thune of South Dakota was elected as the next majority leader. The fourth-term senator will replace longtime leader Mitch McConnell.
Pennsylvania Senate race heads to a recount
While Republicans have won enough seats to take control of Congress, Pennsylvania’s Senate race is headed for a recount as Democratic incumbent Bob Casey refused to concede to his Republican rival, Dave McCormick, despite the race being called by the Associated Press.
Across our Commonwealth, close to 7 million people cast their votes in a free and fair election.
The American democratic process was born in Pennsylvania and that process will play out. pic.twitter.com/R2RirIa09j
While provisional and mail-in ballots are still being counted, unofficial results show the race to be within the one-half of 1% margin which automatically triggers a recount under state law. Currently, McCormick leads Casey by less than 30,000 votes.
Despite Casey refusing to concede, McCormick was on Capitol Hill Wednesday for freshman orientation, where he and other new lawmakers met with outgoing Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Suspect dead after explosion outside Brazil’s Supreme Court
Security concerns are heightened in Brazil after an explosion outside the country’s Supreme Court less than a week before G20 leaders are set to meet in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil’s Supreme Court is in the nation’s capital, Brasilia about 700 miles northwest of Rio.
Authorities said a man killed himself while detonating explosives in Three Powers Plaza, which is home to all three branches of Brazil’s government, after unsuccessfully trying to get into the Supreme Court with the explosives.
The vice-governor of the country’s federal district said the suspect blew up a car near Congress before heading to the Supreme Court. Police have not identified the attacker, but they believe he was working alone.
Teen ‘serial swatter’ behind hundreds of hoax threats pleads guilty
A prolific teenage “serial swatter” from California, has pleaded guilty to making hundreds of hoax calls about mass shootings and bomb threats to schools, religious institutions and government officials nationwide.
The Department of Justice announced Wednesday Alan Filion, 18, pleaded guilty in a Florida federal courtroom to four counts of making interstate threats. He faces up to 20 years in prison, as each charge carries a five-year maximum sentence.
Officials said from August 2022 to January of this year, Filion made more than 375 swatting and threat calls in various parts of the country including Maryland, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Washington, Texas and Florida.
“Swatting” is when someone makes false accusations to send a large number of law enforcement rushing to a location where there is essentially nothing going on.
Trump fills more White House roles with Rubio, Noem among likely next picks
From a new border czar to an EPA administrator to national security adviser, team Trump is taking shape. We’ve got a look at the latest names. And shareholders are suing a major restaurant chain accused of skimping on the portions. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024.
Trump fills more White House roles with Rubio, Noem among likely next picks
We are getting a clearer picture of what the incoming Trump administration will look like come January. After naming his chief of staff, border czar, and United Nations ambassador, the president-elect filled additional key roles on Monday, Nov. 11, as more names surface for other cabinet positions.
President-elect Trump tapped Stephen Miller as his deputy chief of staff of policy. Miller was a senior adviser during Trump’s first administration and is a staunch supporter of deporting undocumented immigrants.
Former New York Congressman Lee Zeldin is Trump’s pick for Environmental Protection Agency administrator. He also ran for governor in 2022.
In a post on X, Zeldin wrote, “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.”
It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator.
We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water. https://t.co/FQk9XPdgcw
Some of the other names who will reportedly be joining Trump’s White House include Florida Congressman and retired Army National Guard officer Mike Waltz as national security adviser. The war veteran would be responsible for briefing the president on important national security issues and coordinating with various agencies.
Senator Marco Rubio is reportedly in line for the position of secretary of state. Once formally announced, the Florida lawmaker would be the first Latino to serve as America’s top diplomat.
In May, a jury found Trump guilty in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election by paying a porn actor who claimed she had sex with trump to keep quiet. Now, Judge Juan Merchan must decide whether to uphold the conviction, order a new trial or dismiss the indictment entirely.
In July, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for “official acts,” though they did not specify what those acts include. While Trump was a private citizen when the so-called “hush money” payment was made, he had taken office by the time his then-lawyer Michael Cohen was reimbursed for the payment.
The judge was set to make the ruling in September but put it off to “avoid any appearance” he was trying to sway this year’s election.
If the verdict is upheld sentencing is set for Nov. 26.
Republicans make more gains as control of the US House remains undecided
That makes 214 Republican seats to the Democrats’ 203 with 18 races yet to be called. The magic number for either party is 218.
Of those still undecided races, 11 are considered key to controlling the House. Republicans currently lead the vote count in eight of them.
That puts Republicans within striking distance of controlling both chambers of Congress after the GOP flipped the Senate in last week’s election.
Democrats did score a win in the Senate Monday, though, with Ruben Gallego defeating Trump ally Kari Lake to become Arizona’s first Latino senator.
The Senate race in Pennsylvania remains the only one uncalled, though Republican Dave McCormick does have the slight lead over Democratic incumbent Bob Casey. McCormick declared victory, and some Republicans already said they’d to host him in Washington on Wednesday. Nov. 13, for orientation. Casey, however, said he wants every vote counted.
New Zealand’s leader apologizes to victims of state-run, faith-based abuse
New Zealand’s prime minister formally apologized to the country’s parliament Tuesday for the widespread abuse, torture and neglect of hundreds of thousands of children and vulnerable adults in state, foster and faith-based care.
It comes after a scathing report released in July detailed seven decades of “unimaginable” abuse, which disproportionately impacted the Māori, New Zealand’s indigenous people.
“Today, I stand before you as the representative of not only this government but of all the governments that have gone before us to offer a formal and unreserved apology for the abuse that you suffered while in state care, churches and other faith-based places,” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said. “For many of you it changed the course of your life, and for that, the government must take responsibility.”
The report on the six-year investigation called the findings a “national disgrace” and for the first time, New Zealand’s government acknowledged the issues. Luxon said his administration is working on more than two dozen of the 138 recommendations that came from that report.
Richard Allen found guilty in 2017 murders of 2 teenage girls
Allen was arrested in 2022, five years after investigators found 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German dead near a trail.
The jury spent 19 hours deliberating before coming to its verdict on Monday.
The Associated Press has reported Allen could be sentenced to up to 130 years in prison. His sentencing is set for Dec. 20.
Shareholders sue Chipotle over damage from portion size controversy
Shareholders have sued the restaurant chain Chipotle after it failed to disclose the number of locations that were cutting portion sizes.
In the proposed class action suit filed in California Monday, shareholders claim the chain failed to disclose that customers were unhappy with the inconsistent portion sizes of its burritos and burrito bowls. It alleges once customers spoke out on social media and Chipotle had to correct the matter, it hurt margins causing the stock price to fall.
Shareholders are seeking unspecified damages for anyone who bought into the company between Feb. 8 and Oct. 29, 2024.
The suit was filed on the same day Chipotle named Interim Chief Executive Officer Scott Boatwright its permanent CEO.
Casey hasn’t conceded PA Senate race, McCormick not invited to orientation
Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., hasn’t conceded the Pennsylvania Senate race, despite The Associated Press and other news organizations calling it for his Republican challenger Dave McCormick. As of Monday, Nov. 11, McCormick was up by approximately 40,000 votes with a little over 100,000 ballots left to be counted.
“There are more than 100,000 ballots left to be counted – including tens of thousands of provisional ballots in counties favorable to Senator Casey,” a member of Casey’s campaign said.
McCormick declared victory and filed a lawsuit to allow Republican poll watchers to more easily challenge any uncounted provisional ballots they believe were cast improperly.
McCormick indicated he was already looking forward to his first week in Washington, D.C., and getting to work.
“So we have leadership elections in Washington, for the leadership of the Senate. Dean and I had a talk with President Trump yesterday, there’s a huge agenda that he’s putting forward,” McCormick told supporters during his victory speech.
Despite McCormick’s win being called, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hasn’t invited him to the new senators orientation. Republican lawmakers are now calling him out.
Dave McCormick is the new senator for Pennsylvania. The idea that Schumer would not allow him to participate in Senate orientation is beyond unacceptable.
The voters of Pennsylvania have spoken. Looking forward to having Dave’s strong voice in the Senate Republican Conference.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., asked, “What happened to all the demands that our leaders accept the outcome of the elections?”
Schumer is not allowing @DaveMcCormickPA to participate in Senate orientation this week because Casey refuses to concede the race. What happened to all the demands that our leaders accept the outcome of the elections?
McCormick isn’t the only one who hasn’t been invited. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who is currently leading the Arizona Senate race over Republican candidate Kari Lake, hasn’t been invited either. Gallego was up by about 70,000 votes as of Monday, Nov. 11, but the AP had not called him the winner.
PA Senate candidate Dave McCormick files suit over ballots in Philadelphia
Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick, who was called the winner by The Associated Press, is suing over provisional ballots yet to be counted in Philadelphia. The suit is asking for an injunction to stop the counting of ballots that may not be properly filed.
The filing states there are 15,000-20,000 provisional ballots that will be counted over the next several days.
Based on the AP’s current vote count and the lawsuit, McCormick is up by more than 30,000 votes.
Provisional ballots are cast by voters whose registration status is in question when they arrive at the polling location. They’re only counted once the voter’s status is confirmed. McCormick’s suit seeks to ensure that ballots that don’t meet the legal guidelines are not counted.
That includes ballots that aren’t signed or are signed by the wrong person, ballots that don’t contain a secrecy envelope, ballots that are not verified by the voter before the deadline or ballots that belong to voters whose absentee or mail-in ballot has already been counted.
McCormick’s suit stated that Republican poll watchers won’t be able to keep up with the pace of counting, because there are only 11 for the GOP and 38 for Democrats. So his legal team is asking for the ability to collectively contest ballots, because they believe the sheer number of provisional ballots will overwhelm the capacity for individual challenges.
Incumbent Sen. Bob Casey, D-P.A., has yet to concede the race, partially citing these yet to be counted ballots.
“I have dedicated my life to making sure Pennsylvanians’ voices are heard, whether on the floor of the Senate or in a free and fair election,” Casey said in a statement.
According to AP data, more than 98% of the total votes in the state have been counted.
Trump speaks of ‘incredible’ win after projected to be next US president
Donald Trump is poised to win the presidency again. How Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania helped put him over the top. And while Republicans have picked up seats in the Senate, will they also take the House? A look at where things stand. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024.
Trump speaks of ‘incredible’ win after projected to be next U.S. president
Former President Donald Trump declared victory while addressing supporters in Florida early Wednesday morning, Nov. 6, as his lead over Vice President Kamala Harris grew. He picked up critical wins in key battleground states Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina.
“We overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible, and it is now clear that we’ve achieved the most incredible political thing,” Trump said. “Look what happened — is this crazy? But it’s a political victory that our country has never seen before, nothing like this. I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president.”
Harris’ path to the 270 electoral votes has become less of a possibility, with most media outlets projecting Trump as the winner Wednesday morning. As of the time this article was published, Fox News, ABC, NBC, CBS, the Associated Press and Decision Desk HQ, a forecasting and analysis organization, have projected him to be the winner.
Donald Trump wins presidency for second time, completing improbable comeback https://t.co/VGPT8X5I88
Trump, who survived two assassination attempts during the campaign, was surrounded by family, Republican leaders, and his running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance as he addressed the crowd inside the Palm Beach Convention Center around 2:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.
“America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,” he told supporters. “Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason and that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness and now we are going to fulfill that mission together.”
Vice President Harris, who picked up wins in California and New York, did not speak Tuesday night, Nov. 5, but earlier in the evening campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond spoke to supporters at Howard University. He said the vice president was not giving up the fight despite how the numbers were going.
“We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted, that every voice has spoken, so you won’t hear from the vice president tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow,” he said. ”She will be back here tomorrow to address not only the HU family, not only to address our supporters, but to address the nation.”
Multiple news networks have confirmed Harris is slated to speak Wednesday morning. However, it is worth noting there reportedly has been no concession call yet from Harris to Trump.
Ray Bogan recaps election night from Washington
Washington is going to look a lot different in January.
Donald Trump made an extraordinary comeback. He lost the electoral and popular votes in 2020 after stinging defeats in Georgia, Arizona and Pennsylvania. This time around Trump won back both Georgia and Pennsylvania. He also took Wisconsin.
Republicans also won a majority in the Senate, with key victories in Ohio and West Virginia pushing them over the top. This will give them a key advantage as they work to confirm Trump’s cabinet picks and judicial nominations.
It’s important to remember that the majorities in Congress are razor-thin and nowhere near filibuster-proof in the Senate. So passing legislation will require bipartisanship.
The big question now is – who will be the Senate majority leader? The three candidates are John Thune from South Dakota, John Cornyn from Texas and Rick Scott from Florida.
Balance of power in Congress shifts, GOP retakes control of Senate
As Ray mentioned, the balance of power is shifting in Congress. Republicans will retake control of the Senate for the first time in four years.
The GOP flipped seats in West Virginia and Ohio, giving Republicans at least a 51-seat majority in the Senate.
In West Virginia, Republican Gov. Jim Justice is slated to replace the outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin, an independent who caucused with Democrats. In Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno is projected by multiple outlets to defeat incumbent Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown.
How the House of Representatives will play out remains to be seen. Republicans are hoping to retain control of the chamber.
They currently hold a slim majority, yet there are still over 100 races yet to be determined as of the time of publishing. Going into the night, Democrats needed to flip four seats to gain.
Stein wins in NC governor’s race, Republicans see victory in other states
Voters in 11 states also chose their next governors. While Republicans won big, Democrats did manage to retain power in several states.
North Carolina remained blue after the state’s Democratic attorney general, Josh Stein, beat out controversial Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. Robinson — who made history as the first Black lieutenant governor in the state — was already trailing in the polls, but his numbers took a dive in mid-September after CNN released a report detailing comments he allegedly made on a pornography website message board more than a decade ago on race, gender and abortion.
Thank you, North Carolina! I am honored to serve as your next governor. Tonight, we came together to resoundingly embrace a vision that is optimistic, forward-looking, and welcoming. I couldn't have done this without each of you. pic.twitter.com/3eeGGTVHed
In Delaware, Democrat Matt Meyer wins the race for governor. Meyer defeated Republican Mike Ramone and will take over from two-term Democratic Gov. John Carney.
Washington state will stay blue after Attorney General Bob Ferguson beat out Republican challenger Dave Reichert for the job. The seat was up for grabs after Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee said he would not be running again after serving three terms.
Indiana went from blue to red, with Republican Mike Braun defeating Democrat Jennifer McCormick. McCormick is a former Republican who split with the party after serving as the state’s schools superintendent.
Meanwhile, Republican Missouri remained red. The state’s Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe is set to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Mike Parson.
North Dakota stayed red, as well. Kelly Armstrong is projected to succeed Gov. Doug Burgum, who also chose not to run again after serving three terms. It is possible Burgum will get a place in the Trump administration.
Republicans will now have governors in 27 states; Democrats in 23.
*Editor’s Note: This story has been updated since our recording to correct that North Carolina did not flip blue as the current governor, Roy Cooper, is a Democrat.
Voters in four states chose whether to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right. The measure did not pass in Florida, Nebraska or South Dakota, but did in Colorado and Nevada.
Nebraska voters actually had two abortion-related measures on their ballot. While the constitutional right to an abortion failed, the other measure, which would prohibit abortions after the first trimester, passed.
Five other states were deciding on the right to an abortion. The measures passed in Arizona, Maryland, Missouri, and New York and is expected to make it through in Montana.
3 newly elected senators, 1 congresswoman making history
History was made in three states on Election Day.
In Delaware, Lisa Blunt Rochester — who already made history as the first woman and first Black person to represent the state in Congress — will now become the first Black woman to represent Delaware in the U.S. Senate.
Maryland Democrat Angela Alsobrooks will be the first Black candidate to represent her state in the Senate.
We just won our Senate race! As a son of immigrants, a public school kid, I never could’ve imagined I’d get to serve as a US Senator. I’m deeply humbled and grateful to NJ and for everyone who got us here. I promise I’ll serve with honor and integrity as a public servant for all. pic.twitter.com/qpuobm9Vf3
New Jersey Democrat Andy Kim will become the first Korean-American ever elected to the Senate. At 42 years old, he’ll also be the Senate’s third youngest member.
Finally, Sarah McBride, who won Delaware’s only open House seat, will be the first openly transgender person to be elected to Congress.
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Republicans claim Senate majority, end Democrats’ four-year hold
Voting hours extended after ballot scanner issue in Pennsylvania county
Technical issues with ballot scanners caused significant delays at polling places in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, a key swing state in this election. As a result, a judge has extended voting hours, with polls now set to close at 10 p.m. EST instead of the usual 8 p.m.
The county’s elections board filed an emergency petition for the extension after a software malfunction prevented voters from scanning their completed ballots. The issue began when polls opened and persisted for several hours despite attempts to fix the problem.
Voters were instructed Tuesday morning to place their ballots in an auxiliary bin, a separate compartment of the ballot box, according to Election Systems & Software (ES&S), the company that provides voting machines to the county. Those ballots will be counted after polls close.
A spokeswoman for ES&S told The Wall Street Journal that the issue wasn’t caused by a cyberattack but appeared to be related to the paper ballots.
Cambria County, located about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh, has a population of around 133,000, including 85,000 registered voters. The county typically leans Republican.
“We understand that there are some line delays on the ground,” Whatley said. “We need you to stay in line. We need you to fill out your ballot in full and deliver it. Our Pennsylvania lawyers are all over this issue and will ensure fairness and accuracy in the process.”
The Pennsylvania Department of State issued a statement confirming it was in contact with Cambria County officials, adding, “Voters are continuing to vote by paper ballot, in accordance with normal operations, while the county resolves the issue with in-precinct scanning.”
Trump field director fired when he’s exposed as white nationalist
A key staffer for Donald Trump, who co-hosts a white nationalist podcast in secret, is no longer with the campaign. Trump campaign officials fired Luke Meyer, who was the regional director for western Pennsylvania, on Friday, Nov. 1, after learning about his views from Politico.
Reporter Amanda Moore linked Meyer to an online personality going by the name Alberto Barbarossa. Meyer, undercover as Barbarossa, regularly shared his white nationalist views on the “Alexandria” podcast with co-host Richard Spencer.
Spencer organized the 2017 white nationalist Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Spencer recently announced he endorsed Kamala Harris and said he’s not affiliated with any political party.
After Moore got an anonymous tip about Meyer, she started investigating. Meyer found multiple clues to verify the tip. One tip included Barbarossa proudly tweeting that he shared a birthday with the former grand wizard of the KKK. Court records showed Meyer also did.
That’s when Moore decided to drive to a Trump campaign event and confront Meyer about Alberto Barbarossa.
Meyer admitted that he’s Barbarossa and he’d been hiding the online identity from the Trump campaign.
He wrote an email to Moore that said, “I’m glad you pieced these little clues together like an Antifa Nancy Drew.”
“It made me realize how draining it has been having to conceal my true thoughts for as long as I have,” Meyer said.
Moore said Meyer explained to her that he felt his white nationalist views had already spread to the campaign.
The Republican Party of Pennsylvania told Politico, “If we’d had any inkling about his hidden and despicable activity he would have never been hired.”
Meyer deleted his Linkedin and X accounts, as well as his Barbarossa X account.