Control of the Pennsylvania House will come down to three tight races for legislative districts in suburban Philadelphia.
In Bucks County, Democrat Mark Moffa had a two-vote lead over Republican Joe Hogan in the 142nd District, and Democrat Brian Munroe had a 406-vote lead over Republican Todd Polinchock in the 144th District, according to Bucks County records. unofficial results Thursday.
In Montgomery County, Republican incumbent Todd Stephens had a 26-vote lead over Democratic challenger Melissa Cerrato, according to unofficial results.
House Democrats expressed confidence Wednesday that they will take control of the lower chamber for the first time since 2010. House Whip Jordan Harris, a Democrat, said the projections are based on an analysis of votes counted to that point and mail-in voting trends. votes in favor of Democrats.
The long-running dispute over whether to count mail-in ballots that are returned without a handwritten date or an incorrect date could pose a problem for deciding races.
A federal appeals court ruled earlier this year that not counting undated ballots would be an unacceptable restriction of voters’ rights. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, rejected it ruling last month because the primary elections have been decided.
The state Supreme Court, which has just six members since Chief Justice Max Baer’s death in September, is deadlocked on the issue. It ordered election officials to set aside and not count ballots with missing or incorrect dates.
Voting rights groups and U.S. Sen.-elect John Fetterman’s campaign argue in two federal lawsuits that not counting undated or misdated ballots violates the Civil Rights Act’s prohibition on disenfranchising voters because of minor paperwork errors.
Bucks County spokesman Jim O’Malley said Thursday that the elections office had finished counting in-person and mail-in votes. The Bucks County Board of Elections will meet next week to evaluate provisional ballots and determine whether they should be counted.
The election results are due to be reported to Secretary of State Leigh Chapman by November 15.
O’Malley said there are about 5,500 provisional and undated or misdated mail-in ballots. There are still 653 foreign ballots left to be counted, civilian, federal and military.
According to the Montgomery County website, more than 4,300 absentee and absentee ballots have not been counted and are awaiting evaluation.
