Pennsylvania judge orders HALT to certifying election results

A Pennsylvania appeals court judge has ordered state officials to halt any further steps toward certifying election results.

The ruling on Wednesday comes a day after Governor Tom Wolf said the Pennsylvania Department of State had certified Democrat Joe Biden as the state's winner of the presidential election.

It wasn't immediately clear if the order from Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough could hold up the certification of state and local contests on the ballot or interrupt the scheduled December 14 meeting of the state's 20 electors.

'To the extent that there remains any further action to perfect the certification of the results of the 2020 General Election for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States of America, Respondents are preliminarily enjoined from doing so,' pending an evidentiary hearing, according to the judge's order.

President Donald Trump reacted to the ruling with a tweet declaring 'Big news!'

Wolf's administration quickly asked the state Supreme Court to block the ruling from taking effect, saying there was no 'conceivable justification' for it.

The evidentiary hearing, which was originally scheduled for Friday morning, was continued due to the administration's appeal.

Republican Rep. Mike Kelly and others are challenging approximately 2.5 million mail-in ballots that were predominantly cast by Democrats.

The people challenging the ballots filed a supplemental application for emergency relief shortly before midnight Tuesday.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a Twitter post the judge's order does not impact Tuesday's appointment of electors.

The state's 20 electoral college votes are key to Trump's longshot attempts to overturn the election results, and it would be virtually impossible for him to achieve his dream without somehow securing them.

Biden is projected to secure 306 electoral college votes to Trump's 232, making the Democrat the clear winner of the election.

Trump has yet to present proof of the widespread voter fraud that he claims cost him the election to Biden.

The ruling in Pennsylvania came as Trump continued to contest the election results in Georgia, which holds 16 electoral votes.

Georgia certified Biden's victory there on Friday after a recount, but will undertake another machine review of the ballots at the Trump campaign's request. Few expect a different result.

On Wednesday, Trump campaign attorney Lin Wood said on Twitter that the 11th Circuit had granted his emergency motion for expedited review of a lawsuit challenging validity of Georgia's election procedure.

'We The People delivered a historic landslide win for @realDonaldTrump in GA & nationally,' ... (Read more)

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