The campaigns of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and his Republican challenger Dave McCormick are seeking to overturn decisions by boards of elections in a dozen Pennsylvania counties to count provisional ballots where voters or election workers made errors.
According to unofficial results from the Pennsylvania Department of State, the lawsuits represent a significant escalation of disputes over the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania, in which McCormick leads by less than 0.3% of the vote. The margin was tiny enough that Pennsylvania initiated automatic premium recalculation, and counties are required to begin the process by Wednesday. Districts must complete their recounts by November 26.
“The votes of thousands of Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth are in question as David McCormick and national Republicans work to throw out ballots cast by eligible voters and accepted by county boards of elections,” Casey campaign manager Tiernan Douglas said in a statement Tuesday. “As the hearings begin today, Senator Casey will continue to oppose voter disenfranchisement efforts to ensure that Pennsylvanians’ voices are heard and eligible voters can participate in our democracy.”
Casey’s campaign declared victory Tuesday afternoon following the Philadelphia judge’s decision he rejected the challenge McCormick over the election board’s decision to count 966 provisional ballots containing various errors by voters or election officials.
Republicans criticized Casey for allowing the recount, noting it was a costly process that never changed the statewide election result. The State Department estimated that a recount in the Senate race would cost the state $1 million.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, asked if he would intervene to avoid wasting taxpayer money, said the decision to forego a recount rests with the candidates. Speaking to reporters at Tuesday’s news conference, Shapiro noted that McCormick’s unsuccessful campaign for the 2022 GOP Senate nomination was one of four recounts that have occurred since the 2004 recount law was passed.
“The most important thing is that the will of the people is respected, that all votes are counted and that a winner is ultimately determined based on the will of the people,” Shapiro said.
McCormick’s campaign released results Tuesday night that showed data from Armstrong, Montour, Forest and Sullivan counties, where a recount had already been completed, and showed Casey had won a total of six votes. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening, and the Capital-Star was unable to independently verify the numbers provided by McCormick’s campaign.
“While Sen. Casey has the right to seek a recount, it is a waste of time and taxpayer money,” said Elizabeth Gregory, communications director for the McCormick campaign. “After completing four counties, the result remained virtually unchanged. We expect this pattern to repeat itself everywhere.”
Four tiny, rural counties are Republican strongholds that President-elect Donald Trump carries by a margin of 21% to 53%.
Casey’s campaign has filed lawsuits in ten counties over decisions by boards of elections to invalidate provisional ballots for what it calls minor issues that do not affect the validity of the ballot or the eligibility of the voter.
These include ballots rejected because the voter signed the envelope once but not a second time. Voters are required to sign before and after voting, and the Casey campaign says this requirement is unnecessary.
Casey is also challenging the rejection of ballots if the completed ballot was not placed in the inner envelope before being sealed in the outer envelope. Because election workers are supposed to oversee the voting process on provisional ballots, voters could be disenfranchised because they were not given proper instructions or materials, the campaign argues.
Casey is challenging decisions not to count ballots where the voter did everything correctly but an election worker made a mistake by not signing the envelope.
The Casey campaign has filed lawsuits in Berks, Bucks, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Montgomery, Philadelphia and York counties over the rejection of one or two of these ballot errors.
McCormick is suing to have ballots thrown out due to missing voter signatures, errors by election officials or failure to check a box stating the reason for casting a provisional ballot Dollars, Chester, Erie, LackawannaMonroe, Montgomery, Northampton and Philadelphia Counties.
Republican election attorney Jessica Furst Johnson told the Capital-Star that such challenges are a normal part of the vote-gathering process in every election.
“The provisional appropriation count is part of the canvassing process, so it will happen regardless of the recount,” said Johnson, who worked for the super PAC Keystone Renewal, which advocated for McCormick’s election this year.
But Democratic attorney Adam Bonin told the Capital-Star on Monday that the issue of provisional ballots has come into edged focus this year following a state Supreme Court decision that county elections officials must allow voters to vote on provisional ballots. vote if they learn about mail-in ballots. may not be counted. He added that problems with mailing absentee ballots in Erie County may have increased the number of provisional ballots cast there.
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