Pennsylvania Woman Books $1,100 Round Trip from Germany to Vote in Person After Absentee Ballot Didn’t Make It

AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin & New York Times

A Pennsylvania woman whose absentee ballot was returned to her instead of being counted said she flew from Berlin back to her home state to vote in person.

Lexi Harder, 30, told The New York Times she paid more than $1,100 for a round-trip flight from Germany to the U.S. so that she could vote in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The Keystone State is shaping up to be a pivotal battleground in the election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Harder said she cast her ballot for Harris.

Harder explained that her absentee ballot apparently got held up in customs before being returned to her:

I’m a Pennsylvania voter. I grew up here. I’m currently living in Germany for a Master’s degree… I registered for an absentee ballot. I filled it out, kept checking my tracking updates and it was never received. I think it got stuck in customs for two weeks and then got sent back. And two hours after I get this ballot back on my desk, I looked at flights and I booked the ticket to leave the next day at 10 a.m., so less than 24 hours later, I was back in America. It’s really important to me that my vote is heard in such an important swing state. I’m not gonna lie. I’m really hoping for a Harris victory.

Early numbers show a high turnout in much of Pennsylvania, including the Democratic stronghold of Philadelphia. Before polls closed in the state, Trump baselessly claimed there is talk of “massive CHEATING” happening in the city. The former president falsely maintains to this day that the 2020 election was rigged against him.