Tensions are rising in Pennsylvania’s Senate race, where some Democratic election officials are defying recent court rulings on counting ballots after The Associated Press called the race for Republican Dave McCormick. However, some efforts to defy court orders to count certain ballots are being viewed as undemocratic, according to The Washington Post editorial board.
Before the election, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court ruled provisional ballots were required to be signed in two places and mail-in ballots were to be dated. However, Democratic leaders in several counties are challenging those mandates.
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The AP reported four counties voted to count mail-in ballots that were in question.
Lawyers for Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn., requested the action. Casey is trailing McCormick by about 24,000 votes.
Nearly all of the 7 million ballots cast have already been counted. Casey is allowed to request a recount due to the narrow margin.
The issue of counting mail-in and provisional ballots has been contentious in Pennsylvania. Lower courts have already litigated the issue and the state’s Supreme Court ruled it’s illegal to count ballots missing required signatures and dates for the 2024 election.
“I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country,” Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia said. “People violate laws anytime they want. So, for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention.”
Local Democratic officials argue the court got it wrong and is invalidating votes over clerical errors. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court is made up of five Democratic justices and two Republicans.
“The mere attempt to defy judicial rulings is corrosive to democracy and invites similar behavior in future elections,” The Post’s editorial board wrote.
“Democrats would surely protest if a Republican commissioner made the same statement to justify tipping the scales for their party’s Senate nominee—and they would be right. Elections need rules, established in advance of the voting, and those rules must be applied equally and consistently,” the board added.
While most election results this cycle have been accepted, three candidates have yet to concede, including Casey in Pennsylvania, Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake in Arizona and Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde in Wisconsin.
