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Pennsylvania court blocks counting of some mail-in ballots

Poll workers tabulate ballots at the Allegheny County Election Warehouse in Pittsburgh

By Tom Hals

(Reuters) - Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Court on Thursday barred county election officials from counting mail-in and absentee ballots in which voters provided missing information after Nov. 9.

Those ballots were ordered last week to be separated until the Commonwealth Court determine the validity of the votes.

The Commonwealth Court found Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar lacked the authority to extend the deadline to Nov. 12 from Nov. 9 by which voters could provide missing information to validate their ballot.

The case was brought by U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee.

Trump's Democratic challenger Joe Biden has been projected to win Pennsylvania, giving him enough electoral votes to become the president-elect.

(This story corrects to show order applies to mail-in and absentee ballots that missed a deadline for correcting voter information, not provisional ballots)

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)