President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the Lehigh Valley is now all but official.
Preliminary vote counts in Lehigh and Northampton are complete and each county’s election board is scheduled to formally certify the results on Monday, Pennsylvania’s certification deadline.
With no more local votes left to count, Biden, a Democrat, leads Republican incumbent President Donald Trump in Lehigh County by 14,000 out of 186,000 total votes, and by 1,200 in Northampton County, where almost 172,000 ballots were cast.
Almost three weeks after Election Day, the Democrat’s statewide lead stands at 81,000 out of a record 6.9 million votes cast, a historic turnout. The Trump campaign is attempting to stall Pennsylvania’s certification with dubious and error-riddled legal claims that experts anticipate are doomed to fail.
“I don’t see how the litigation at this point ... will ultimately impact the counties and the states’ ability to certify results by Nov. 23,” said Chris Deluzio, policy director at the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security, during a press briefing this week with the National Task Force on Election Crises.
Northampton and Erie were the only Pennsylvania counties to flip in 2020. Northampton voted for President Barak Obama twice before swinging to Trump in 2016. Only 77 counties in the nation pivoted in 2020 with 59 of them going to Biden, NPR reported this week.
The Northampton County Republican Committee challenged some 400 provisional ballots – which are issued on Election Day when there is a question about a voter’s eligibility, and counted separately. On Friday, County Executive Lamont McClure said all local matters have been resolved without petitioning the court.
McClure said county workers were focused on putting on a “flawless” election.
“Democracy won on Election Day,” McClure said.
One sign on Route 248 in Palmer Township declares the area to be "Biden country," but a neighbor's sign outside the gated property next door shows support for Trump.Steve Novak | For lehighvalleylive.com
In Lehigh County, which has gone for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since 1988, County Executive Phil Armstrong reported no issues with certification.
In Friday’s weekly video updating residents on various topics, Armstrong held up a copy of the county’s vote totals. He said that every ballot was counted individually and that poll watchers from both parties “have gotten along” and issued no challenges.
“We’re moving ahead and hopefully by Monday, signing on the dotted line and maybe,” he said in the video, giving a double thumbs up from his office desk, “then this election will be over.”
There are still some key dates before Biden’s win is official, however. Dec. 8 is the deadline for states to resolve any election disputes, court hearings or recounts.
On Dec. 14, electors in the Electoral College vote by paper ballot in their respective states. Those are delivered by Dec. 23. On Jan. 6, the U.S. House and Senate hold a joint hearing to count the electoral votes. The candidate with at least 270 wins; if neither gets to that point, then the House decides the election.
On Jan. 20, the president-elect will be sworn into office.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com.
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Lehigh Valley vote count complete, affirming Biden’s local lead. Results to be certified Monday. - lehighvalleylive.com
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