Recount in Pennsylvania Senate Race Triggers Legal Battle Over Which Ballots Can Be Tallied

A potentially major legal battle is brewing in Pennsylvania as the incumbent Democratic senator, Bob Casey, has yet to concede defeat to the Republican candidate, Dave McCormick, and an automatic recount is set to occur. Republicans have already filed lawsuits to block the counting of certain votes, as some commissioners have agreed to count some contested ballots despite court orders. On Thursday, the Pennsylvania Republican Party filed a lawsuit with the state’s supreme court over the decision by several counties to count ballots without dates on them, despite an order from the state Supreme Court. The lawsuit notes, “Last month, the State Supreme Court ordered that county boards of elections and Pennsylvania courts must enforce the General Assembly’s mandatory date requirement for mail ballots in the 2024 general election. Less than two weeks ago–the Court again ordered that the date requirement ‘shall…be applied’” to the general election.The chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, Lawrence Tabas, said, “What’s taking place in these counties is absolute lawlessness, and America is watching.”The Associated Press projected Mr. McCormick would defeat Mr. Casey. As of Friday morning, Mr. McCormick’s lead had shrunk to 23,767 votes, down from 29,000 on Wednesday. And there were still an estimated 48,000 ballots left to be counted. The AP says it is unlikely Mr. Casey will be able to overcome his lead. However, the slim margin separating the two candidates triggered an automatic recount in the state, which will begin by November 20. Election boards with Democratic majorities at Montgomery County, Philadelphia, Bucks County, and Centre County voted to count undated ballots. A Democratic commissioner at Montgomery County, Neil Makhija, defended the decision, saying, “We’re talking about constitutional rights, and I cannot take an action to throw out someone’s ballot that is validly cast, otherwise, over an issue that we know … is immaterial.”Mr. Makhija noted the decision involves 501 ballots.Meanwhile, Bucks County agreed to count 405 ballots.The Bucks County Republican Committee shared a video of a meeting of commissioners debating whether to count the contested ballots. The Republican commissioner, Gene DiGirolamo, put forth a motion to reject certain contested ballots. However, one of the two Democratic commissioners, Diane Marseglia, said she would not second it “mostly because I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country. And people violate laws anytime they want.”“For me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention to it,” she added. Ms. Marseglia did not respond to a request for comment from The New York Sun by the time of publication.The two Democratic commissioners on the board also voted to count ballots without a proper signature despite a ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The AP estimates that the number of ballots missing a date that could be counted across Pennsylvania could be in the thousands. Not every county has decided to count them.

Recount in Pennsylvania Senate Race Triggers Legal Battle Over Which Ballots Can Be Tallied

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