Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules Counties Cannot Count Ballots Without Dates
Several counties made the decision to count ballots despite a previous ruling by the state supreme court on the matter.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has issued an order to counties in the state, instructing them not to count mail-in ballots that are undated, after several counties had indicated they would do so.
The directive was issued on Nov. 18 as the state began a recount process for the U.S. Senate race. Decision Desk HQ and The Associated Press had both called the race for Republican Dave McCormick, who was running against incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.). However, because McCormick’s lead was within a 0.5 percent margin, a recount was required by state law.
“This order shall be considered definitive and binding for all county election board members,” the court stated.
The court’s order specifically mentioned three county boards of elections—Bucks, Montgomery, and Philadelphia—that had chosen to count the undated ballots.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Pennsylvania Republican Party had filed lawsuits against county officials who had counted such ballots.
Justice Christine Donohue of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a dissenting statement, arguing that “there is nothing exceptional or urgent about the Petitioners’ challenges” and that the RNC had “an existing avenue of review for their challenges to the decisions of these Boards of Elections.”
Justices David Wecht and Kevin Brobson also issued statements concurring with the court’s decision.
“I am writing separately to make it clear to local election officials that they do not have the authority to ignore provisions of the Election Code that they believe are unconstitutional,” Brobson stated, along with Wecht and Justice Sallie Mundy. “Only the courts under our charter have the power to declare a statute, or part of one, unconstitutional.”
This story is still developing and will be updated.
