An "I voted today" sticker is seen on the ground at Philadelphia's City Hall Photograph:( Reuters )
The Republicans had asked the court to at least issue the order of separating the ballots being received after 8 pm on November 03, from those that were received before the apparent deadline
A US Supreme Court justice has denied Donald Trump's request to halt the Pennsylvania vote count of the ballots arriving after the election day, alleging that his opponent Joe Biden has committed fraud in the US election 2020.
The court case has now been referred to the full court for a ruling on Saturday. Samuel Alito has asked the officials to keep counting the votes in the meantime — a decision which has been criticised by Donald Trump as his opponent is inching closer to victory.
The petition was filed at the last moment when the former Vice President, Joe Biden, started leading in the state. The petition targeted thousands of ballots that were received after 8 pm US election day i.e. November 03.
US election 2020 result LIVE updates: Supreme Court denies immediate halt of Pennsylvania count
The Republicans had asked the court to at least issue the order of separating the ballots being received after 8 pm on November 03, from those that were received before the apparent deadline. The motive of this request was to keep the process simpler if the disqualification dream of Republicans comes true. However, the same was not ordered by Supreme Court justice.
"Given the results of the November 3, 2020, general election, the vote in Pennsylvania may well determine the next president of the United States," the Republicans said.
"It is unclear whether all 67 county boards of elections are segregating late-arriving ballots," the petition added.
The petition was filed after Donald Trump repeatedly accused Joe Biden of manipulating the election results and committing fraud through the mail-in voting system which has been operated on a larger scale by the United States Postal Service due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Trump has been asking authorities to "stop the count", while Joe Biden is urging people to "keep the faith" in the electoral and justice system of the country.
As of now, Biden is leading by 21,705 votes in Pennsylvania.