Republicans Accuse Democrat Officials Of Attempting to ‘Steal’ Pennsylvania Senate Seat
In a contentious Senate race in Pennsylvania, Democrats in several blue counties have admitted to counting ballots that were ruled illegal under state law, intensifying accusations from Republicans of an attempted election "theft."
Republican candidate Dave McCormick was initially projected as the winner by the Associated Press, currently holding a 29,000-vote lead over Democratic incumbent Bob Casey. However, the narrow margin triggered an automatic recount as required by state law.
Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt confirmed the recount, which is estimated to cost $1 million. Schmidt announced that the recount results would be released on November 27, as reported by CBS News.
The state Supreme Court had ruled before the election that mail-in ballots lacking proper dates or signatures could not be counted in official tallies, consistent with Pennsylvania law. However, officials in Bucks County and Montgomery County have defied this ruling, stating they would include these ballots in their counts, according to Fox News.
Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia defended the decision, stating, “I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country. People violate laws anytime they want. So, for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention. There’s nothing more important than counting votes.”
Similarly, Montgomery County's Democratic board chair, Neil Makhija, justified counting the ballots to prevent voter “disenfranchisement.”
The Republican National Committee (RNC) has responded with four lawsuits challenging the counties' actions, vowing to defend McCormick's lead. "Let’s be clear about what’s happening here: Democrats in Pennsylvania are brazenly trying to break the law by attempting to count illegal ballots. They are doing this because they want to steal a senate seat,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley stated on X.
Adding to the controversy, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled just before Election Day that voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected could still cast provisional ballots. In a narrow 4-3 decision, the court determined that counties must count provisional ballots from voters whose mail-in submissions were invalid due to issues such as missing secrecy envelopes or incomplete information. This ruling, the Washington Examiner reported, was seen as a step to ensure voters weren’t penalized for procedural errors.
“It is difficult to discern any principled reading of the Free and Fair Election Clause that would allow the disenfranchisement of voters as punishment for failure to conform to the mail-in voting requirements when voters properly availed themselves of the provisional voting mechanism,” the majority opinion stated.
The court’s decision followed a separate ruling the previous week, which deemed mail-in ballots with incorrect or missing dates on their envelopes invalid. This ruling was heralded as a win for election integrity advocates.
The unfolding legal and electoral drama has sparked heated debates over election rules and fairness, with both parties gearing up for what promises to be a contentious recount process.