This is the letter sent on behalf of The Trump campaign threatening a lawsuit against The City by Weds if Trump poll watchers cannot gain access to satellite election offices.
https://twitter.com/6abcAnnie/status/1311403953297534976
Philly Election Official says City Hall is NOT a public building!! TRUMP observer thrown out of City Hall! what are they doing??
https://twitter.com/mikeroman/status/1311340893128056838
Memory sticks used to program Philly’s voting machines were stolen from elections warehouse
A laptop and several memory sticks used to program Philadelphia’s voting machines were stolen from a city warehouse in East Falls, officials confirmed Wednesday, setting off a scramble to investigate and to ensure the machines had not be compromised.
Though it remains unclear when exactly equipment was stolen, sources who have been briefed on the investigation say they believe it vanished this week. The laptop and USB drives belonged to an on-site employee for the company who supplies the machines and were the only items believed to have been taken.
City officials vowed Wednesday that the theft would not disrupt voting Nov. 3.
“We are confident,” said Nick Custodio, a deputy to Lisa Deeley, chair of the city commissioners, who oversee elections, “that this incident will not in any way compromise the integrity of the election.”
But behind the scenes, they fretted about how President Donald Trump and his allies might use the news to cast doubt on the integrity of the city’s elections in light of false claims and conspiracy theories he cited as fact during Tuesday’s presidential debate.
The commissioners initially refused to confirm the theft or that an investigation had been opened when contacted early Wednesday by The Inquirer. They only did so after the newspaper informed them it would be reporting the incident based on sources who were not authorized to publicly discuss it.
Sources in the the District Attorney’s Office, which handles voting integrity investigations, initially said that they had not been informed of the theft. Though, a spokesperson for District Attorney Larry Krasner said later Wednesday that they were involved in an “active investigation." Philadelphia police referred all questions to Mayor Jim Kenney’s office.
“Since being informed of the incident, I have immediately committed to making necessary police resources available to investigate this incident and find the perpetrators. I have also committed to the City Commissioners additional resources to provide enhanced security at the warehouse going forward,” Kenney said in a statement. “This matter should not deter Philadelphians from voting, nor from having confidence in the security of this election.”
Trump, who trails former vice president Joe Biden in Pennsylvania polls, has sought to cast doubt on the integrity of the election and has specifically targeted Philadelphia, falsely saying Tuesday that Republican poll watchers had been turned away by the city’s election staff.
His rhetoric has alarmed experts and voting rights advocates, who say the president is undermining public confidence in the electoral system and inappropriately politicizing the democratic process.
Still, many details surrounding the stolen technology in Philadelphia remained unclear Wednesday including exactly how the equipment was taken, whether there are any suspects, and details on whether any machines had been compromised.
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/philadelphia-election-trump-equipment-stolen-usb-laptop-20200930.html