Judge Deals Massive Blow to Voting Rights in Key Swing State
Pennsylvania voters will not get extra time to vote.
Extreme wait times to vote in a Pennsylvania county couldn’t sway a judge to extend voting hours on Tuesday.
Despite reports that lines near Lehigh University in Bethlehem had estimated wait times longer than six hours, a judge in Northampton County refused to locally extend the state’s 8:00 p.m. poll closing time. Bethlehem stretches across the boundaries of Northampton and Lehigh Counties, both of which sided with President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Voters in line before the 8 p.m. deadline will still be permitted to vote, according to the ACLU of Pennsylvania.
The Keystone State is expected to be a pivotal battleground race in the 2024 election. Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are projected to be neck and neck in Pennsylvania, with the Democratic presidential nominee just a smidge ahead of her Republican opponent at 47.9 percent to Trump’s 47.7 percent, according to FiveThirtyEight’s aggregated polling.