In a 4-3 opinion, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled against county boards of elections counting undated or incorrectly dated absentee ballots.
The decision appears to be a victory for Republicans Dave McCormick and the defeat of the Democrats Bob Casey Jr. The US Senate race is being recounted.
The Commonwealth’s highest court exercised its King’s Bench powers and “ordered that all respondents, including the Bucks County, Montgomery County and Philadelphia County boards of elections, SHOULD COMPLY with prior rulings of this Court in which we have made clear that mailings and ballots mail-in ballots that do not meet the requirements of the Pennsylvania Election Code, see 25 PS §§ 3146.6(a), 3150.16(a), WILL NOT BE COUNTED for purposes of the November 5, 2024 election.
“This order shall be deemed to be authoritative and controlling in all such matters and also in respect of all members of district electoral commissions.”
Justice Kevin Dougherty is the author of the opinionand the judges David Wecht AND Kevin Brobson everyone made consistent statements. Justice Sallie Updyke Mundy agreed with every statement. Justice Kevin Donohue submitted by A separate statement in which the President of the Supreme Court Debra Todd and Justice Daniel McCaffrey joined.
Some county boards of elections, including those in Democratic-controlled Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia, have moved to segregate and count undated or incorrectly dated ballots, citing mixed messages from previous state court rulings.
This caused anger Dave McCormick campaign, the Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania Republican Party, who responded in a letter to those counties.
“The Board has now doubled down on the violation of the law and included invalid, undated and incorrectly marked ballots in its official vote tally. The Board’s recalcitrant refusal to follow the law and the orders of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court can only serve one purpose: to reinforce outgoing Senator Casey’s refusal to elect and to undermine public confidence in the election of Senator-elect McCormick by Pennsylvania voters.
Democrats have traditionally cast more absentee ballots than Republicans and have been more supportive of legal efforts to count ballots containing clerical errors.
Governor Josh Shapiro stated: “As counties continued counting 2024 general election ballots and mandatory statewide recounts began in the U.S. Senate race, they faced a lack of legal clarity regarding undated mail-in ballots, which caused considerable confusion and put the counties in a difficult legal position. Both my predecessor and I have repeatedly called on lawmakers to provide greater transparency around mail-in voting, and because some legislators have refused to act on key election reforms, the issue has been left to the courts.
“Given this lack of clarity, county officials in each of our 67 counties were damned if they did and damned if they didn’t — they likely face legal action regardless of what decision they made on the count.”
He expressed hope that all district officials would comply with the verdict.
McCormick leads Casey by 17,700 votes at the end of Monday afternoon as the mandatory recount continues. The recount was required because state law requires it if unofficial results are within a 0.5 percent difference.
“Today’s ruling is a monumental setback to Senator Casey’s attempt to count illegal ballots. In attempting to help Senator Casey, Bucks County and others flagrantly violated the law. “Senator-elect McCormick is very pleased with this ruling and looks forward to being sworn in in a few short weeks,” he said Elżbieta GrzegorzMcCormick communications director.
“I want to make sure that trust and faith are maintained,” Casey wrote in an email. “Pennsylvanians deserve to trust that when they legally cast a vote, it will be counted. They deserve to trust that they will not be disenfranchised because of mistakes made by poll workers or election officials. They deserve to trust that expediency will never be valued more than democracy.
“Regardless of the final outcome, I will make every effort to ensure that the voices of Pennsylvanians are heard.”
