‘Count every vote!’: Rival rallies collide outside of Philadelphia vote-counting facility

President’s early lead in Pennsylvania appears to be narrowing

Two rival crowds have gathered outside the Philadelphia convention centre where most of Pennsylvania’s remaining votes are being counted.

One crowd of around 200 held signs saying “count every vote” and partied to upbeat music.

Across the street, a handful of more muted Trump supporters who said the count was “illegal” stood within an enclosed pen, guarded by police.

The two sides reflect both campaigns’ changing hopes for the states.The AP has not yet called Pennsylvania, and the president’s early lead there appears to be narrowing.

Demonstrations have been rolling through the city since Wednesday night, after a momentous 24 hours of news. That day, officials both released body camera footage of police killing Walter Wallace Jr, a Black man, and the president prematurely claimed victory in Pennsylvania then launched a series of thus far unsuccessful lawsuits to stop the vote count in the state.

The crowd in Philadelphia on Thursday carried signs with Black Lives Matter slogans and encouraged every vote to be counted.

Donna Cassidy, a demonstrator with the “count every vote” rally in Philadelphia. (Richard Hall / The Independent )

Donna Cassidy, 63, a former nurse, told The Independent that the president’s attacks on mail-in voting were “insulting, degrading and demeaning,” and that the state “did a great job of accurately legally and correctly counting everyone’s vote.”

“I came down to support democracy,” she added. “We want to make sure every vote is counted. It is the right of everyone in this country, according to the law.”

She also believes the president is trying to create a narrative that frames a potential loss in the state as a reflection of malfeasance, not the will of voters.

“I think Trump is just trying to create a narrative that fits him potentially losing,” she said. “He wants to stop counting votes in states where he’s losing and keep counting where he’s winning, it’s hypocritical.”

Video from the scene of the dueling demonstrations shows a calm atmosphere, where opposing sides tried to chat with each other.  

The relatively peaceful scene contrasts with other demonstrations around the election, where Trump supporters chanting “stop the count” tried to storm a Detroit election facility and shut down another in Arizona due to the presence of armed demonstrators.

The president prematurely declared himself the victor of both the entire US election and the Pennsylvania count in an inaccuracy-riddled speech in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and since then his campaign has alleged without evidence that counts which show Joe Biden gaining as more votes come in are fraudulent.

Before the election, Pennsylvania state Republicans opposed efforts to begin counting early votes before Election Day.