LANCASTER, Pa. — Lancaster Stands Up, CASA, and community leaders will stage a rally in Penn Square Wednesday night to affirm that every vote in the commonwealth must be counted.
The rally will be held at 5 p.m. organizers say. Speakers include local clergy members, community leaders, and local elected officials.
Tuesday night, President Donald Trump declared victory in the election and threatened to use the U.S. Supreme Court to halt additional "voting," which most political analysts understand to mean the counting of legitimate votes, according to those organizing the rally.
Democratic candidate Joe Biden urged patience as the votes were counted, organizers said.
“In America, our elections are decided by voters, not by decree,” said Eliza Booth, an organizer with Lancaster Stands Up. “Trump is trying to bully and cheat his way through an election he knows he could lose. He hopes that delegitimizing the process will stop us from having our voices heard. It won’t.”
Pennsylvania could prove critical to the outcome of the presidential race in the days ahead. The final tally of votes could take days to be determined, according to state officials.
Organizers said the rally will also address the unfolding situation with Lancaster County Commissioners Ray D'Agostino and Josh Parsons, who they say are "attempting to delay the counting of valid mail ballots that arrived after 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, Trump is not the only obstacle standing between Pennsylvanians and our votes being counted,” said Jonathan Smucker, a co-founder of Lancaster Stands Up. “County Commissioners D'Agostino and Parsons are also attempting to delay counting legitimate mail votes, in hopes that the Supreme Court might later invalidate them.
"Politicians don’t get to decide the outcome of the election or which votes are counted. Voters decide. All of our votes must be counted.”
