PHILADELPHIA _ A federal judge in Western Pennsylvania ruled against President Donald Trump's campaign Saturday in a lawsuit challenging the state's rules for mail voting and poll watchers, the latest legal setback for the president in a flurry of election-related lawsuits.
The lawsuit against Pennsylvania questioned the use of mail ballot drop boxes, sought to require signature analysis for mail ballots, and argued that poll watchers for candidates and parties should be permitted to observe polling places in counties other than where they are registered to vote.
U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan ruled that the campaign did not prove a serious threat of impending voter fraud, and rejected its arguments on all three issues.
"At most, they have pieced together a sequence of uncertain assumptions," Ranjan wrote in his 138-page opinion.
The ruling marked the second loss in court this week for the campaign. A Philadelphia judge ruled Friday that poll watchers don't have a right to observe activity in satellite election offices where voters can apply for, complete and return mail ballots.
Both lawsuits are part of a broader effort by Trump to attack mail voting and cast doubt on the integrity of the election, despite no evidence of widespread problems or fraud. Trump himself drew attention to Pennsylvania and Philadelphia during last month's presidential debate when he said "bad things happen in Philadelphia."
The federal lawsuit had been put on hold earlier this year pending a ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on some of the same issues.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shaprio, a Democrat, called the ruling a victory for voters.
"We have been in court for months protecting the right to vote and working to get this outcome for all of you," he said. "Vote by mail or in person, however you choose. Your vote will count."
A spokesperson for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday afternoon.
