Joe Biden touts his support for unions in Philly; Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have Pa. rallies planned for next week

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court doubled down Friday on its previous rulings that undated mail ballots should not be counted in next week’s election, staying an order from a lower court that had injected uncertainty into the status of thousands of votes that will now be rejected.

In a unanimous ruling, the justices blocked a Commonwealth Court decision this week that failing to include them in statewide vote tallies violated the rights guaranteed to voters under the state constitution.

While the Supreme Court has yet to take up the merits of that claim, in its order Friday, it reiterated guidance it issued earlier this month that it would “neither impose nor countenance substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election.”

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday unanimously rejected a Republican request to bar Pennsylvania voters who’ve submitted faulty mail ballots from casting provisional votes at the polls on Election Day — a decision seen as a victory for Democrats in the battleground state.

But in rebuffing the last-minute appeal from the Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania GOP, three of the court’s Republican justices — Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch — described the issue as “a matter of considerable importance” and appeared to leave the door open for future litigation after the election.

At issue was a 4-3 decision last week from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court allowing voters whose mail ballots had been rejected for procedural errors like missing dates or failing to use a required security envelope to still vote at the polls. The case arose out of Butler County, which had a policy of rejecting those provisional votes.

An Erie judge on Friday ordered the county’s board of elections to remain open through the weekend after as many as 17,000 mail ballots may not have been delivered to voters who requested them and hundreds more received a ballot intended for someone else — a major issue caused by the mail ballot vendor and likely to cause vote-counting delays in a bellwether part of Northwestern Pennsylvania.

The United States Postal Service, the Erie County board of elections, and its mail ballot vendor, ElectionIQ, “are unable to accurately determine the delivery status” of more than a third all requested mail ballots in the county, according to the order from Erie County Court of Common Pleas Judge David Ridge. An additional 1,200 residents who requested mail ballots to out-of-state residences, such as universities, did not receive their mail ballots, the order said.

The mail ballot issues in Erie have persisted for weeks, after the county announced that about 300 voters received ballots intended for others in addition to their own because of errors made by its Ohio-based vendor, ElectionIQ.

Married to an active duty member of the U.S. Navy, Ana Harley has spent the past 15 years moving around the country. But she’s always considered Chester County home.

Her driver’s license lists a county address. She pays taxes there. And — up until she recently received an anonymous letter linked to a mysterious P.O. box in Delaware — she’d planned to vote by mail in the county, too. Instead, the message, signed only “a friend from Pennsylvania,” urged her to cancel her voter registration, noting she and her husband also had a listed address outside the state.

“For a moment I questioned my status and then I remembered that I had, probably two weeks before, submitted my request for my mail-in ballot,” she said. “So I brushed it off as a cowardly attempt to try and cancel my voter registration.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro will campaign on Saturday for a Democratic state representative in a competitive Bucks County district and several other Democrats.

Shapiro will join State Rep. Brian Munroe and Democratic congressional candidate Ashley Ehasz, who is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. Also scheduled to appear at the rally are State Sen. Steve Santarsiero and Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia.

In Harrisburg, the Democrats hold a 102-101 majority in the state House of Representatives and the battle for control has come down to several races across the state.

President Joe Biden touted his administration's support of union workers in a stop at UA Local 692 Sprinkler Fitters in Northeast Philadelphia, particularly through the passage of the American Rescue Plan's Butch Lewis Act, which helps failing pension plans stay solvent.

Biden called the act, named after a late former Teamster who was a significant figure in the pension protection movement, "the most significant investment in pension security" for union workers in more than half a century. Prior to its passage, Biden said, union workers and retirees faced cuts of up to 70% to their retirement benefits.

"Food warehouse workers, truck drivers, scores of others don't worry anymore about their benefits being cut," Biden said. "Because now they know because of what we've done, they'll receive the full amount of their pensions they've worked hard for, and they'll receive it for decades to come."

Elon Musk’s unsuccessful gamble to have a federal judge take oversight of a lawsuit filed by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner paid off at least in part, as a city judge said Friday that a hearing in the case would not take place until Monday morning — the day before the presidential election.

Krasner’s suit is seeking to stop Musk from giving away money to registered voters in Pennsylvania as that contest draws to an end. Now, even if the suit succeeds, the ruling will only prevent Musk from doling out awards in Pennsylvania over the last 36 hours before the polls close.

It also was not clear Friday if Musk might ever show up inside a Philadelphia courtroom.

While a sense of anxiety has been clear in some Democratic circles, various union workers and representatives felt at ease ahead of President Joe Biden’s speech at the Local 692 Sprinkler Fitters union hall in Northeast Philadelphia Friday afternoon.

Biden has had some recent verbal gaffes that didn’t land well, and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has distanced itself from him as he’s supported his running mate’s bid to take over the Oval Office.

But John Quirk, the recording secretary for Philadelphia Plumbers Local 690, and 35-year member, said he’s not worried about Biden saying the wrong thing.

On stage, President Joe Biden presented the Presidential Citizen’s Medal to Rita Lewis, the widow of Butch Lewis, for whom the Butch Lewis Act — which Biden touts as saving more than 1 million pensions in the American Rescue Plan — was named after.

The crowd stood up and cheered in excitement.

Rita Lewis, who accepted the medal that Biden posthumously awarded to her late husband, was also one of the speakers before Biden took the stage for his remarks.

As the clock ticked closer to the end of on-demand mail voting in Bucks County a line wrapped around the Bucks County government services building in Levittown.

Voters sat in plastic chairs or stood while anxiously shifting back and forth, talking to the people near them. One voter said he’d been in line since 11 a.m.

Folks occasionally waived signs for former President Donald Trump and his campaign sent surrogates out to talk to voters.

President Joe Biden received a warm welcome at the UA Local 692 Sprinkler Fitters in Northeast Philadelphia Friday, with the crowd cheering and chanting “Thank you Joe!” as he took the stage.

Large swaths of the crowd remained standing after Biden began speaking, holding phones up and watching him intently.

“Please if you have seats, take them,” he said after greeting various members of the crowd, which was met with a roar of laughter.

Voters across Pennsylvania have lamented the division in America. With the barrage of attack ads and candidates slinging mud, it’s all reached a fever pitch that makes envisioning a post-election future feel impossible.

At Dickinson College in Carlisle, Ryan Bergh Thies and Matthew Craig have some suggestions.

The roommates, both seniors, have been friends since freshman year. They are also the respective presidents of the Dickinson Democratic and Republican clubs on campus.

Former first lady Michelle Obama is bringing some star power with her to Montgomery County Saturday for a rally to support Vice President Kamala Harris.

Sixteen-time Grammy winner Alicia Keys will join Obama on stage in Norristown Saturday night. The rally will take place sometime between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., according to a Pennsylvania Democrats event listing.

Obama, the wife of former President Barack Obama, has hit the campaign trail the past week for Harris. Her outspoken distain for politics hasn't prevented her for harshly criticizing former President Donald Trump, calling out his “erratic behavior” and “obvious mental decline" in a speech in Michigan last week.

Union representatives filled a room at the UA Local 692 Sprinkler Fitters in Northeast Philadelphia Friday afternoon to see President Joe Biden speak.

“President Joe Biden Union Strong Retirement Security” was projected on two screens on a stage with blue curtains, and four Pennsylvania flags and four American flags. Attendees and speakers referred to Biden as the most pro-union president in their lifetimes.

Bill Hamilton, vice president for the Teamsters Eastern Region, denounced former President Donald Trump for embracing Elon Musk on the campaign trail, calling the tech giant a “billionaire who doesn’t give a lick about working people.”

A federal judge has declined to oversee the the lawsuit filed against Elon Musk by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, the latest chapter in the legal bout unfolding between Krasner and Musk ahead of Election Day.

The decision, issued Friday afternoon by U.S. District Judge Gerald J. Pappert, rejected a request by Musk’s lawyers to have the case proceed through the federal system — and sends the matter back to Philadelphia’s Common Pleas Court, where Krasner had initially filed a complaint earlier this week.

It was not immediately clear how quickly Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta might set a hearing in the case.

Vice President Kamala Harris criticized former President Donald Trump’s violent remarks about Republican Liz Cheney Friday, telling reporters they “must be disqualifying.”

At an event Thursday night with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Trump blasted Cheney – a Republican who has endorsed Harris – as a “radical war hawk and imagined her with rifles "trained on her face."

“Anyone who wants to be president of the United States who uses that kind of violent rhetoric is clearly disqualified and unqualified to be president,” Harris said after arriving in Madison, Wisc. for a rally. “Representative Cheney is a true patriot who has shown extraordinary courage in putting country above party.”

Former President Donald Trump will campaign in the Pittsburgh and Reading areas on Monday, the day before Election Day, the campaign announced Friday.

The Trump campaign also announced that he will make an appearance Sunday in Lititz, Lancaster County, on Sunday morning.

Trump is scheduled to speak in Reading at 2 p.m. Monday at Santander Arena, with doors opening at 10 a.m. He'll then travel to Pittsburgh, where he's scheduled to speak at a 6 p.m. rally at PPG Paints Arena, the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

X owner Elon Musk falsely claimed in a post on the social media platform Friday Democrats engaged in "election interference" in Bucks County.

Musk referenced a ruling in a lawsuit filed by former President Donald Trump's campaign against the purple county earlier this week after voters who were in line before the state's deadline to request and cast a mail ballot on Tuesday were offered an opportunity to register to vote but were not allowed to receive and cast their ballot on the spot. The county had been routinely cutting its line off before posted hours, instead only allowing people to stay in line who could be seen before the office closed.

On Tuesday, they cut the line at election offices around 2:30 and allowed those who arrived after to apply for a mail ballot. The Trump campaign argued that everyone in line by 5 p.m. should have been allowed to cast the ballot. A judge sided with the campaign, pushing back the deadline for in-person, on-demand mail ballot voting to Friday at 5 p.m.

Women and seniors are breaking for Democrats in Pennsylvania’s early voting returns, a split that has led some party leaders to rejoice, even as others temper their enthusiasm.

More than 1.6 million commonwealth voters have cast early mail-in ballots for the Nov. 5 presidential election. An Inquirer analysis of early ballot returns found that women composed 56% of the early mail-ins, with men trailing at 43%, according to voting data obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State this week.

Democrats have historically had an edge with mail voting, and while that lead has narrowed this year as Republicans have increasingly embraced the balloting method, women who are registered as Democrats still were responsible for the largest single share of early votes.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick on Friday touted his military record and criticized Democratic incumbent Bob Casey as a no-show lawmaker at a campaign stop outside Pennsylvania’s largest gun store.

“Whenever the bullets start flying, he ducks,” McCormick said of Casey outside Grice Gun Shop in Clearfield.

Speaking to a crowd of about 100 people, McCormick pledged to crack down on the fentanyl trade, support police officers, and strengthen the military to ensure “peace through strength.”

Black-owned talk radio station WURD has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, four days out from the general election.

“WURD Radio is a marketplace for ideas, conversation and public dialogue. That said, we are also keenly aware of the extraordinary stakes of the current presidential election — and the clear and present threat that Donald Trump represents to our community. For this reason, we have decided to take the unprecedented step of endorsing Kamala Harris,” the station said in a statement posted to its website Friday.

Since its founding by physician Walter P. Lomax in 2003, WURD had never endorsed a political candidate at any level, a decision the organization said it “stood by” until Friday.

A racist parade float display depicting Vice President Kamla Harris at a community Halloween parade outside of Pittsburgh has sparked backlash, prompting organizers to apologize.

A vehicle rolled through Wednesday’s Mount Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department Halloween parade in Westmoreland County decorated with American flags and campaign signs for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The float was flanked by people dressed up as Secret Service agents and had a fake rifle on top. A person dressed up as Harris could be seen chained up and walking behind the cart.

Photos of the float circulated across social media, causing widespread criticism for its racist depiction and calls for an explanation regarding why the float was approved in the first place.

Today is the final day for residents in Bucks County to apply in person for a mail ballot.

The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Friday. Voters can request, receive, and cast their ballots today in Bucks County.

The state cutoff was originally Tuesday, but the deadline in Bucks County was extended by a judge after long lines led some administrators to begin cutting off lines before 5 p.m.

Lawyers for Elon Musk have formally asked a federal judge to oversee the lawsuit filed against him by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, the latest volley in the legal bout unfolding between Krasner and Musk ahead of Election Day.

The brief, filed Friday morning, said that because Krasner is seeking to bar Musk and his America PAC from giving away money to registered voters in Pennsylvania before the presidential election, it is clearly a question of federal law — not a state issue, as Krasner has asserted.

Indeed, wrote lawyer Matthew Haverstick, Krasner repeatedly accused Musk of using his PAC’s controversial $1 million daily sweepstakes to interfere with the right of Pennsylvanians to have a free and fair election, which Haverstick said demonstrated that the matter “belongs in federal court, where it can be decided soberly and in a deliberate fashion.”

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is defending violent remarks the former president directed at Republican Liz Cheney Thursday night in Arizona.

“President Donald Trump explained Thursday night that warmongers like Liz Cheney are very quick to start wars and send other Americans to fight them with no regard for the lives lost,” the Trump campaign said in a statement.

Speaking to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Trump criticized Cheney, who has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, as a “radical war hawk” and imagined the former Wyoming representative facing rifles "trained on her face."

Ian Sams, a senior adviser and spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, slammed former President Donald Trump for spouting violent rhetoric about a prominent critic. 

“Donald Trump is so all-consumed by his grievances, the people who he disagrees with and who he sees as opposing him politically, he treats as enemies,” Sams said on MSNBC Friday Morning. “He’s spent the last month talking about the ‘enemy from within’ the United States. And now, he’s going after Liz Cheney with this dangerous, violent rhetoric.”

Trump made the comments to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson at an event in Arizona Thursday night. The former president said he imagined former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.) facing rifles "trained on her face" for being a “radical war hawk” who has endorsed Harris.

Ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ election eve rally in Philly in front of the Museum of Art, city officials are closing some streets as early as Friday.

Motorists are advised to avoid areas of Fairmount Avenue and Benjamin Franklin Parkway and to expect delays.

Here’s what we know so far:

Top surrogates for former President Donald Trump will barnstorm Pennsylvania in a bus tour over the next four days, including some of his supporters who in 2020 advanced conspiracy theories and false claims about the election.

The Trump backers visiting the state this weekend include Peter Navarro, a Trump administration economist who went to prison this year for refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas for documents and testimony related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, will also attend. Bondi falsely claimed in the days after the 2020 election that Trump had won Pennsylvania, and appeared outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia where ballots were being tallied and demanded the count be halted.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is closing in on Pennsylvania.

With stops in Allentown, Pittsburgh, and outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Harris is scheduled to spend her entire Monday in the Keystone State, according to campaign officials.

It’s not a surprising twist — both Harris and former President Donald Trump have made repeated stops in the swing state throughout their respective campaigns. Still, honing in on Pennsylvania for the entire day ahead of Election Day is significant.

Former President Donald Trump escalated his threatening rhetoric against his critics Thursday, using violent language and insults to attack a Republican backing Vice President Kamala Harris.

Speaking onstage in Glendale, Ariz. with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson Thursday night, Trump lashed out at former Rep. Liz Cheney (R., Wy.), insulting her intelligence and describing her as a “radical war hawk” while imagining her facing rifles "trained on her face."

“Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? Let’s see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face,” Trump said.

President Joe Biden will be traveling to Philadelphia Friday just days before Election Day, but Vice President Kamala Harris won't be joining him.

Biden is scheduled to arrive in Philadelphia at 3:30 p.m., and is expected to deliver a speech on his administration's support for unions in Northeast Philly at 4:30 p.m.

The White House has not publicly announced the location of Biden's speech. After his speech he will travel to Wilmington, Del., where he'll spending the night before heading to a political event Saturday in Scranton, Pa., his hometown.

Gov. Josh Shapiro shot down false election claims about Pennsylvania on Fox News Thursday night, blaming former President Donald Trump for putting out "a lot of misinformation."

Fox News anchor Bret Baier pressed Shaprio on Bucks County, where a Pennsylvania judge — following a legal challenge from the Trump campaign — extended the deadline for residents to apply for and cast their mail ballots in person until 5 p.m. Friday.

The original deadline was Tuesday, but when the number of voters exceeded what county election officials could process that day, they began cutting off people in line hours before the deadline

Philadelphia-area election officials gathered earlier this year for a conference on cybersecurity and election threats related to artificial intelligence ahead of a Nov. 5 election in which Pennsylvania is poised to play a pivotal role.

Representatives from major social media companies presented on what they could do to remove content that was, as Delaware County Election Director Jim Allen described it, “pants-on-fire lies.”

The response from X, formerly known as Twitter, stood out to Allen.

Swing-state campaign events will be in in full swing Friday for Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, with stops scheduled in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina.

While Harris won’t be in Pennsylvania personally on Friday, plenty of the vice president’s surrogates will. Among them is President Joe Biden, who is slated to visit Philadelphia to speak about his administration’s support for unions.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff is also slated to visit the commonwealth with a Friday stop in West Chester. And Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz will campaign in Wilkes-Barre at 3 p.m., followed by a stop in Reading at 6 p.m.

With Election Day less than a week away, all eyes are on Pennsylvania. But it’s not only in the presidential race where the state’s swing voters are poised to influence partisan power on a national scale. And nearby in New Jersey and Delaware, voters will see history-making races on the ballot, too.

Moderate Democrats and right-wing Republicans are locked in competitive races for control of three of the state’s congressional districts. The fate of these races — the most competitive congressional matchups in the state — could help determine which party controls the U.S. House.

Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, is trying to maintain his grasp on the 10th Congressional District, which includes parts of the Harrisburg suburbs that have been shifting blue. He’s facing his most serious challenge yet after he easily carried the Central Pennsylvania district in 2022.

The 2024 presidential election is just around the corner, and The Inquirer’s voters guide is bringing you key information about your ballot in Pennsylvania.

General elections — this year’s held on Nov. 5 — determine which candidates will be elected for their respective offices. The major party candidates on the ballot are typically chosen through the primary elections held in the spring. Voters can pick any candidate in the general election, regardless of their political party. This guide provides key points for all federal and statewide races as well as state legislative races in Philadelphia and its four collar counties.

The ballot will be crowded this year. Pennsylvanians will vote for U.S. president; their representatives in the U.S. Senate and House; representatives in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, including members of the state House and state Senate; as well as auditor general, attorney general, and treasurer.