U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly's lawsuit to halt the certification of votes in Pennsylvania has been supported by a state appeals court judge.

Judge Patricia McCullough, a Republican, on Wednesday ordered counties to halt the certification process regarding votes in the 2020 presidential race.

She said the halt of certifying votes is pending an evidentiary hearing at 11:30 a.m. Friday.

Kelly, R-16th, filed the lawsuit Saturday almost simultaneously with a federal judge's dismissal of a case filed by the Trump campaign and two lawyers to stop the certification of Pennsylvania's ballots.

Federal Judge Matthew Brann, a Republican, called the Trump lawsuit “strained legal arguments without merit” and accusations that were not backed by any evidence. Kelly's lawsuit challenges about 2.5 million mail-in ballots that were cast predominantly by Democrats. The suit claims the GOP-controlled state Legislature had failed to follow proper procedure when it voted last year to expand mail-in voting.

The state Supreme Court has twice this month overturned Commonwealth Court decisions involving Republican election challenges.

Wanda Murren, director of communications at the Pennsylvania Department of State, responded to McCullough's ruling by saying a free, fair and secure election was held.

“Millions of Pennsylvanians voted, and they must have their voices heard,” Murren said. “Attempts to disenfranchise voters cut against the core values of Americans (and) are intended to undermine our democracy, and we must reject them.”

She said the state will fight “every single attempt to disenfranchise voters.”

Catherine Lalonde, chairwoman of the Butler County Democratic Party, responded to the filing of the Kelly lawsuit through a news release earlier this week.

“If Mike Kelly and his co-conspirators win, 100,000 people in the 16th District — Republican and Democrat — will have their votes trashed,” she said.

She said 2.7 million votes across the state would be discarded if Kelly succeeds. “This is the definition of undemocratic,” Lalonde said.

Kelly's office did not reply to a request for comment on McCullough's ruling.

Al Lindsay, chairman of the county Republican Committee, said issues in the election must be resolved.

“I'm gratified that the suit is going to be allowed to move forward,” Lindsay said. “Whether or not you agree on nullifying the votes, there are so many issues with the integrity of the election.”

He said if for no other reason, the questions surrounding the election need to be answered in the interest of future elections. “The question going into the future is, are we going with the law or are we going to do whatever is convenient?” Lindsay said.