Pennsylvania Luzerne County Reconciliation Challenge

Lawsuit filed by election denier Jim Bognet, a Republican who lost to U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) in the election to represent the state’s 8th Congressional District, against the Luzerne County Board of Elections requesting that the court order the board to “complete its statutorily prescribed reconciliation process before certifying the results of the 2022” midterm elections. The plaintiff alleges that the “Luzerne County Board of Elections’ inadequate preparation for in-person voting at many of its polling places jeopardized that sacred and foundational right, as an untold number of voters were turned away—even in the morning on Election Day—because polling places had no means for voters to cast a ballot.” The plaintiff argues that the board “failed to supply a significant portion of its voting precincts with sufficient ballot paper ” and “at least 50 voting precincts in Luzerne County experienced a ballot shortage.” The lawsuit asserts that Luzerne County voters experienced “disastrous and chaotic experiences” at the polls and brings the lawsuit to compel the board to ensure it is following the reconciliation procedure, which is when [define]. The plaintiff contends that the board is required to “perform the reconciliation process as part of the canvass process but completing the reconciliation process to confirm that there is a cast and counted ballot for every voter who signed into a polling place to vote on November 8, 2022, would add some sense of integrity to what is by all accounts a failed election process.” The plaintiff seeks a writ of mandamus (a court order compelling a party to take a certain action) requesting that the board of elections compare the list of registered voters to the individuals who cast votes at the polls, a “reconciliation of all balloting materials” and a reconciliation “of tally papers and district totals cards with the results on the general return sheets.” The plaintiff asserts that state law requires Pennsylvania boards of elections to complete the reconciliation process and demands that the board may not certify the results of the election until such process is complete.

Last updated: January 4, 2023 2:06 pm EST