EXCLUSIVE: RNC files lawsuit against Montgomery County PA for illegally issuing untested early ballots

The Republican National Committee has filed suit in the Common Please Court of Montgomery County, PA alleging that the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners "have commenced the 2024 general election... without completing" the required testing per the Election Code. This testing is intended to promote election integrity, and without it, certain assurances cannot be met.

The testing provides "election officials an opportunity to identify and redress errors in election definition, ballot format, and layout, including, but not limited to, appropriate locations for folds on absentee/mail-in ballots, missing races, missing party identification, incorrectly worded ballot questions, and incorrect tabulation." The directive for pre-election testing of ballots also requires county boards to "certify to the Secretary when they have completed" the testing and to complete the certification "at least 15 days prior to every election held in their jurisdiction and must submit the certification electronically to the Department of State.

Pursuant to the Election Code in the state, "all counties in Pennsylvania must conduct pre-election logic and accuracy testing (L&A testing) prior to every election (primary, general, special, or municipal) that is conducted in their jurisdiction." This testing, per the directive, "is a series of pre-election steps intended to ensure that ballots, scanners, ballot-marking devices, and all components of a county's certified voting systems are properly configured and in good working order prior to be used in an election."

On September 13, per the lawsuit, the defendant Frank Dean, with the Montgomery County Board of Elections, emailed plaintiff, Christian Nascimento, chair of the Montgomery County Republican Committee, saying "As you are no doubt aware, we have yet to receive a certified ballot from Department of State. As such, we will not be starting L&A on Monday. Once we have a certified ballot my intention is to begin L&A testing the next business day, but in any event I will notify you all once we have the ability to proceed."

The "names of the candidates that would appear on the 2024 general election ballot were finalized by virtue of the decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court" on September 16, the lawsuit states, and were certified by the Secretary of the Commonwealth." The next day, Dean contacted Nascimento to say that the testing would begin on September 19, just three days later. That email is included in the suit as Exhibit 3.

Dean then rescheduled the testing for September 23, this coming Monday, but "in a dramatic and unprecedented maneuver," the lawsuit states, ballot distribution began September 17, before the testing had taken place. "Upon information and belief," the suit reads, "Defendants are the only county in Pennsylvania to have commenced voting without completing L&A testing."

Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija went as far as to brag about the ballots being sent out, saying on X that he "officially cast the first ballot in Montgomery County and perhaps the first in Pennsylvania! Mail-in ballots are being sent out now, and you can apply for yours at http://MontcoVotes.com." The testing has not yet been done.

The suit states "Remarkably, Defendants were aware that the L&A testing had not been completed on September 17, 2024, and publicly stated it would not commence until September 19, 2024, and would 'continue on weekdays until 3:00 pm.'" 

The RNC demanded that "Montgomery County Election Officials immediately cease the distribution of all mail and absentee ballots until the satisfactory completion of all mandated testing;" and that "Any an all mail and absentee ballots distributed thus far must be immediately segregated upon return so that arrangements can be made to count these ballots by hand." 

The defendants failed to respond, though Makhija put up another post, encouraging others to vote in the election on September 19, though the testing has not yet been undertaken. Comments on this post offer concern that Makhija has engaged in illegal activity by mailing out ballots, and casting ballots, prior to the legally required testing. "Why did you break the law Neil?" One user said. "You mailed out ballots that require statutorily required 'Logic and Accuracy Testing.' Both state law and the secretary of state require the testing."

On Friday, Makhija complained that the RNC was launching an "attack on voting rights."

"Voting has begun in Pennsylvania — and so has the RNC’s first line of attack on voting rights. Here in Montgomery County, they’re threatening us under spurious legal grounds to breed distrust in voting systems, calling our ballots 'illegal' without any legitimate basis. We test our machines. Voting here is safe, secure, and no level of intimidation will prevent access to the ballot for every Montco citizen," he wrote.

Complaint - Filed by The Post Millennial on Scribd