Judge promises ruling today in Ziccarelli lawsuit
By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
A decision in a federal lawsuit regarding Pennsylvania’s 45th Senatorial District is expected today.
U.S. Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan issued a signed notice Monday evening stating that his decision on a suit filed Nov. 25 by Republican Nicole Ziccarelli will be issued before noon today.
Ziccarelli, a lawyer from the New Kensington area, ran against incumbent Democrat Jim Brewster, who has held the 45th District seat since 2010.
She is asking the judge to throw out more than 300 mail-in ballots that were counted in Allegheny County and contained a proper signature, but were incorrectly dated on the outer envelope.
Pennsylvania Department of State election results, which were certified by Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar Dec. 17 in all state races including the 45th District race, show Brewster received 69 more votes than Ziccarelli.
The district spans Allegheny and Westmoreland counties and includes communities in the Alle-Kiski and Mon valleys.
Allegheny County elections officials opted to count mail-in ballots that had missing or incorrect dates on the outer envelope, while Westmoreland County officials chose to not count ballots with the same errors.
In the lawsuit, which names the Allegheny County Board of Elections, Brewster, Boockvar and the state Democratic Party as defendants and/or intervenors, Ziccarelli argues that the undated or incorrect ballots from Allegheny County should not be counted or certified and that she should be declared the winner. She argues that voters and elections officials in the two counties are being held to different standards.
With the exception of the federal lawsuit currently before Ranjan, Ziccarelli has lost all court challenges attempting to remove the ballots from the count, including a case in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
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