The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an order on Monday, directing election officials in the state to cease counting mail-in ballots that have incorrect or missing dates on their outer envelopes.
The court order mandates that Bucks, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties, where Republicans contend that officials have chosen to tally mail-in ballots with errors on their outer envelopes, must comply with the previous rulings of the high court. These rulings explicitly state that undated or misdated mail-in ballots should not be included in the count.
The court ruling is a significant win for Republican candidate Dave McCormick, who currently maintains a narrow lead over Democratic Senator Bob Casey in a highly contested Senate race. This race is so close that it is expected to go to a recount later this week.
In a post on X, Elizabeth Gregory, who serves as a spokesperson for McCormick’s campaign, expressed her disappointment with the ruling, stating that it was a significant setback to Casey’s efforts to include illegal ballots in the count. Gregory also mentioned that McCormick is eagerly anticipating taking the Oath of Office in January.
McCormick celebrated his victory on Friday after being projected as the winner by The Associated Press. Despite NBC News not yet making a projection due to the race being too close to call, McCormick is currently leading Casey by 17,408 votes with 99.7% of the vote counted, and an additional 24,000 ballots yet to be tallied.
A recount of ballots is triggered in Pennsylvania when the margin is less than 0.5 percentage points. The recount is scheduled to start this week and must be finished by noon on November 26th.
In a statement on Monday, Tiernan Donohue, Casey’s campaign manager, described the litigation as an attempt by McCormick and other Republicans to deprive Pennsylvania voters of their rights.
“Donohue expressed his strong opposition to David McCormick and the national Republicans’ efforts to invalidate provisional ballots cast by eligible Pennsylvania voters and already accepted by county boards. This action is not only unjust but also goes against the principles of democracy. We will stand up against such actions and fight for the rights of these voters.”
The Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania filed a petition to seek a court order. They specifically targeted election boards in Bucks, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties. These election boards, led by Democrats, had previously made decisions to count ballots that didn’t have the correct dates.
Democratic Governor, Josh Shapiro, urged the counties to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision. He acknowledged that the lack of legal clarity regarding the updated mail-in ballots had led to confusion and placed the counties in a difficult legal situation.
According to Shapiro, he and his predecessor have consistently urged lawmakers to provide clearer guidelines on mail-in voting. However, due to the refusal of certain legislative actors to address crucial election reforms, the courts have been responsible for addressing this issue.
County officials in all 67 counties were caught in a difficult position due to the lack of clarity. They were faced with a lose-lose situation, as they would likely face legal action regardless of the decision they made regarding the counting process.
