Pennsylvania Supreme Court halts counting of ballots with date errors by election officials

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered election officials to stop counting mail-in ballots with incorrect or missing dates on their outer envelopes in Bucks, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties. This ruling is a win for Republican Dave McCormick, who holds a narrow lead over Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in a Senate race that is headed for a recount. McCormick’s campaign sees the ruling as a setback for Casey’s attempt to count illegal ballots, while Casey’s campaign manager accuses McCormick and other Republicans of trying to disenfranchise voters. Although McCormick declared victory, the race is still too close to call, with a margin of 17,408 votes and thousands of ballots yet to be counted. The recount, triggered by Pennsylvania rules when the margin is less than 0.5 percentage points, must be completed by November 26. The Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania filed the petition seeking the court order, targeting election boards in counties led by Democrats who had previously decided to count ballots with incorrect dates. The counties argued that an incorrect date did not necessarily make a voter ineligible or indicate that the ballot was illegitimate.

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