Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said his administration is prepared to defend lawfully cast ballots in court if President Donald Trump or other federal officials attempt to throw out votes, particularly in cases that affect the outcomes of close congressional races.

“They’re going to try to stop certain votes from being counted,” Shapiro said, referring to Trump and his allies. “So we’ll be in court immediately to ensure all legal, eligible votes are counted.”

Shapiro, a Democrat and potential 2028 presidential contender, boasted about his success in defeating Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results during his tenure as state attorney general.

“Trump and his enablers sued us 43 different times, and I won every single time,” he said, during the Inquirer interview. “We both preserved access to the ballot box, and we ensured every one of those votes would be counted.”

His comments, made Monday during a wide-ranging interview with The Inquirer Editorial Board, come just three weeks before Election Day when four closely contested races in the state could determine control of the U.S. House.

The editorial board, which runs The Inquirer’s opinion pages and decides endorsements, operates independently from the newsroom. Newsroom editors and reporters (including two who attended Monday’s meeting) have no role in endorsements, and opinion staffers have no role in news coverage.

Back in 2020, Trump and his allies brought dozens of legal cases challenging Joe Biden’s presidential victory, alleging widespread fraud without evidence to back up their claims. One case, brought by U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R.-Pa., sought to exclude the 2.7 million mail ballots cast in the state, which was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.

This year, Shapiro, a first-term governor seeking reelection, said he expects U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R.-La., to delay seating new members if Republicans lose their majority.

“I assume that there will be efforts as long as Johnson’s in charge in the House,” said Shapiro, who has endorsed every Democratic congressional challenger in the competitive districts.

“We have some legal steps we think we can take to compel action there… but we will see how it plays out. I can tell you, we have kind of drilled for each of these exercises.”

Even if a candidate doesn’t seek to overturn results, the fight over which ballots to count can become heated when victory margins are narrow.

Two years ago, Democratic Sen. Bob Casey resisted conceding to Republican Dave McCormick until every county’s provisional ballot had been reviewed — a days-long process fought in court over which votes should, and should not, be counted. Casey ultimately conceded two weeks after the election after a statewide recount had already begun.

Prepared if Trump deploys federal agents

Shapiro also responded to worries that Trump’s administration could try to intimidate voters by deploying the National Guard or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), despite the fact there is currently no order for such an action.

“We are quite concerned that the president will dispatch federal officials, whether it’s ICE or others, to our streets,” he said.

Trump would likely target immigrant communities in Pennsylvania, “so we are especially prepared in those areas should he try to do that,” Shapiro said.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security have said they don’t plan to send ICE officers to patrol the polls. In Washington, D.C., where the National Guard has been deployed by Trump since last year, the board of elections has asked the guard to limit the placement of troops near mail ballot drop boxes after recent complaints.

Law enforcement are not permitted inside polling locations in Pennsylvania, unless they have been called to clear a disturbance.

Several civil rights groups and political organizations are still preparing for what they see as a possibility.

The Pennsylvania Democratic Party, for example, has built out a “voter protection program,” according to party officials, that includes volunteer attorneys in every county available on Election Day to go to court and a live-staffed voter assistance hotline.

The Republican Party of Pennsylvania has encouraged voters to participate in the election “using any legal means of casting a ballot.”

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