Shortly after polls opened on Election Day, Republicans in Pennsylvania filed a fresh new lawsuit in federal court challenging the Montgomery County officials' process for handling absentee ballots that arrived before Nov. 3.
The plaintiffs had previewed their concerns in a letter earlier this week, and they are now asking for a court order to stop alleged "pre-canvassing" of these ballots before 7 a.m. local time and stop contacting anyone whose mail-in ballot contains a perceived defect to change their ballot.
They want any ballots changed set aside. However, the number of ballots affected could be quite narrow since the complaint only identifies roughly 1,200 votes that might be defective. As of this morning, roughly 223,000 absentee ballots had been cast in Montgomery County.
Notably, the county, which is just outside Philadelphia, leans Democratic. Clinton won the county in 2016 by 58.9% to 37.4%.
In response, a Montgomery County spokesperson told CNN's Scott Glover:
“The letter from the Montgomery County Republican Committee to Secretary Boockvar is a blatant mischaracterization of our procedures around allowing voters to remedy potential deficiencies with their ballots. The PA Supreme Court’s decision regarding this practice stated it is not a requirement to provide notice and the opportunity to cure ballots, but did not prohibit it. Our process in no way takes the place of the procedures that are followed as part of the canvass of ballots, and at no point prior to canvass is a determination made on whether a ballot will or will not be accepted. We believe in doing whatever we can to afford those who have legally requested and returned a ballot a fair opportunity to have their vote count.”