False: “Pennsylvania Democrats have gone to the state Supreme Court to try and ban our election observers.They don’t want anybody in there.”

By: Devika Kandelwal
November 12 2020

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No one tried to ban poll watchers from both sides in the election and Democrats did not go to the state Supreme Court to ban Republican watchers.During a press conference at the White House on November 5, President Trump questioned the legitimacy of the U.S. elections. He claimed in a litany of allegations that "“Pennsylvania Democrats have gone to the state Supreme Court to try and ban our election observers. They don’t want anybody in there. They don’t want anybody watching them while they are counting the ballots.” The main issue in the case was how close observers representing the parties could get to election workers who are processing mail-in ballots in Philadelphia. The Trump campaign sued to allow the observers to get closer than the guidelines had allowed. A court ruled in favor of that request overturning earlier rules that kept them further back out of concern about the coronavirus. Judge Christine Fizzano Cannon reversed a lower court decision, and concluded that “all candidates, watchers, or candidate representatives be permitted to be present for the canvassing process, and be permitted to observe all aspects of the canvassing process within 6 feet, while adhering to all COVID-19 protocols, including, wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.”