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PHILADELPHIA—Voters on Friday told The Epoch Times they gathered outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where mail-in ballots are still being tallied, to call for all votes, or all legal votes, to be counted.
“I think it’s important that every vote should be counted,” said Skylar Harris, 40, an archivist who supports Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
But Biden supporters are using different nomenclature than supporters of President Donald Trump, who say they want votes to count, but not illegitimate ones.
“Every vote needs to be counted, but not three or four or five times. So, you know, they need to make sure that people who voted did not mail in a ballot and also did not go and vote in person, because that’s been happening,” said Dasha Pruett, the Republican nominee for the U.S. House Pennsylvania 5th District, who is projected to lose her race.
The opposing groups gathered in a week fraught with concerns about the voting process, with law enforcement officers keeping the peace in the area.
Skylar Harris joins the Biden protest by the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pa., on Nov. 6, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
Trump’s campaign won a lawsuit on Thursday when a judge ordered Philadelphia election officials to let observers watch ballot counting from six feet away. But Philadelphia’s sheriff declined to enforce the ruling, Trump campaign officials said later in the day, as Democrats appealed the decision to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Another suit, which sought to stall counting until Republican observers were present, was dismissed.
Trump and other Republicans have alleged fraud in the state while Democrats say there’s little evidence to support the accusations.
Told of Republicans’ call to count every legal vote, Sheila Ballen told The Epoch Times: “That’s a distraction, because they’re losing.”
Susan Crawshaw (L) and Sheila Ballen join the Biden protest by the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pa., on Nov. 6, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
Ken Patkin joins the Trump protest by the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pa., on Nov. 6, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
“There’s no fraud. We have been doing mail-in ballots in election after election after election. There is never fraud unless someone doesn’t like the outcome,” the 55-year-old Biden supporter, who works in communications, said.
“We have adequate security measures. There wouldn’t be any fraud. I feel that we need to allow the system to work,” Nyla Ford, a graphic design student, added.
Ken Patkin, a Trump supporter, held a sign saying “no transparency, no trust.”
Patkin said he was supposed to be a canvasser but despite being registered, he was not allowed into the convention center to observe ballots being counted.
Protest forming across road from Philadelphia convention center. Working Families Party is handing out yellow “Count Every Vote” hoodies. pic.twitter.com/WBL2mQjwOd
— Charlotte Cuthbertson (@charlottecuthbo) November 6, 2020
I think that whoever wins should be supported. But we have to know that they won legitimately, that every vote that was passed was a legitimate vote, and that it was counted properly,” said Patkin, a 62-year-old retiree who worked with HVAC systems.
Biden took the lead in Pennsylvania early Friday and was projected to win the state, though Trump’s campaign called that projection “false.”
With Biden ahead, supporters expressed hope that the race would be called for him soon.
“We’re pretty happy,” Harris said.
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