Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has urged county election boards to respect a decision by the state Supreme Court preventing them from counting ballots that are either undated or incorrectly dated in the state’s Senate race.
Speaking on Monday following the ruling, Shapiro said: “Any insinuation that our laws can be ignored or do not matter is irresponsible and does damage to faith in our electoral process. The rule of law matters in Pennsylvania.”
The Pennsylvania Senate race pitted Democratic incumbent Senator Bob Casey against Republican challenger David McCormick. The GOP candidate leads by around 17,000 votes and the Associated Press has called the race in his favor, but the margin of less than 0.5 percentage points has triggered an automatic recount as required by state law. If Casey’s victory is confirmed it would leave the Republicans with 53 Senators against 47 aligned with the Democrats.
In Monday’s 4-3 ruling the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reaffirmed a prior decision instructing counties not to count ballots that came in undated or incorrectly dated envelopes. Under state law voters are required to sign and date the outer return envelope of their ballot, sparking a series of lawsuits over what should happen to ballots where this is done incorrectly or not at all. The Republican National Committee (RNC), which brought the latest lawsuit, has been arguing these ballots are not valid.
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Election officials in a number of counties, including Bucks, Philadelphia and Montgomery, had decided to defy the first Pennsylvania Supreme Court pre-election guidance and count incorrectly dated ballots. Justifying this decision, Bob Harvie Jr., a Democrat who chairs the Bucks County election board, said: “It is a pretty stupid thing to not count someone’s vote simply because they didn’t date an envelope for a ballot.”
However, in its latest ruling the Pennsylvania Supreme Court was unequivocal, stating: “All Respondents, including the Boards of Elections in Bucks County, Montgomery County, and Philadelphia County, SHALL COMPLY with the prior rulings of this Court.”
According to The New York Times, the ruling will impact around 400 ballots in Bucks County, 600 in Philadelphia and an unspecified total in Montgomery. Newsweek contacted the Republican and Democratic parties of Pennsylvania for comment on Tuesday outside of regular office hours via email and online inquiry form, respectively.
In a statement following the ruling, Shapiro said: “The Department of State had advised counties repeatedly of their duty to segregate challenged provisional ballots and undated ballots in anticipation of a ruling by the court.
“The court has now ruled on the counting of these ballots specific to the Nov. 5, 2024, election, and I expect all county election officials to adhere to this ruling and all the applicable laws governing our elections.”
Responding to the court ruling on X, Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley said: “Following our latest RNC lawsuit, today the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled yet again that undated ballots CANNOT BE COUNTED.
“No more excuses. Election officials in Bucks, Montgomery, Philadelphia, and other counties have absolutely no choice but to reject illegal ballots. We will hold them to it. Protect The Vote!”
Apparently referring to those county officials who defied the initial court ruling, Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, posted: “They will go to jail count on it.”
Last week saw Trump unveil a number of his top administration officials, including Marco Rubio as secretary of state, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services and Matt Gaetz as attorney general. To assume these positions each candidate must be approved by a simple majority in the Senate following confirmation hearings.
