On Thursday, Republicans petitioned the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to ensure that mail ballots missing or with incorrect dates are excluded from this year’s election tally, accusing several counties of disregarding previous court orders.
The state’s highest court had issued multiple directives before Election Day, emphasizing that the handwritten date requirement must be enforced. However, it has yet to address concerns raised by voting rights advocates, who argue that the requirement infringes on the Pennsylvania Constitution’s guarantee of free and equal elections.
This week, some county boards proceeded with counting ballots that had date discrepancies, sparking a fresh wave of legal challenges after the election over the contentious issue. The contested ballots could be pivotal in the tight race between incumbent Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and his challenger, David McCormick, who currently leads by about 25,000 votes. The close contest is heading for an automatic recount.
Pennsylvania’s close election heads for recount with unresolved mail ballot date issue
McCormick, who has already declared victory, has been in Washington attending freshman orientation. Decision Desk HQ, in partnership with The Hill, projected McCormick as the winner on Thursday afternoon.
On Thursday, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and its state chapter urged the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to use its King’s Bench authority to immediately address the date requirement and reaffirm that counties, particularly Philadelphia, Bucks, and Centre, should not count ballots with such discrepancies.
In their petition, Republicans argued that various county boards were attempting to change the rules at the last minute, saying, “By counting undated and misdated mail ballots for the 2024 General Election, they are disobeying this Court’s commands many times over.
At best, they are confused; at worst, they are openly defying the authority of this Court.” Though McCormick was not part of the request, he is involved in the ongoing lawsuit against Bucks County for its decision to count ballots with missing or incorrect dates.
Casey’s campaign pointed out that McCormick had previously supported counting ballots with date issues during his 2022 Senate primary recount, calling his reversal on the matter hypocritical.
“David McCormick’s hypocritical reversal on undated mail ballots is further proof of his determination to disenfranchise Pennsylvania voters while counties continue to count votes in this razor-thin election,” said Casey’s campaign manager, Tiernan Donohue.
Meanwhile, McCormick’s campaign manager, Matt Gruda, accused Casey of trying to “illegally count UNREGISTERED voters” as part of the campaign’s challenge to the rejection of certain provisional ballots. The legal disputes followed meetings in several counties earlier this week to address ballot issues.
Bucks County, which plays a crucial role in both campaigns and lies just north of Philadelphia, voted 2-1 along party lines on Tuesday to count just over 400 ballots with date problems. Bob Harvie, the Democratic vice-chair of the county commissioner board, argued it would be “pretty stupid” not to count them, given the ballots are timestamped when received.
“We’re going to get sued either way; I’d rather be on the side of counting ballots than not counting them,” Harvie stated at the meeting. Democratic chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia added, “I can’t vote to reject them. I just can’t.”
On the other hand, Republican commissioner Gene DiGirolamo, who serves as the board’s secretary, voted against counting the ballots. A similar situation revealed on Wednesday when the Philadelphia City Commissioners held a meeting, also voting 2-1 along party lines to count ballots with date issues.
These new legal challenges add to the growing body of election-related litigation in Pennsylvania. Last week, McCormick filed two emergency motions concerning provisional ballots, though one was denied by a judge, and he later withdrew the other.
