In mid-September, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that mail-in votes with incorrect dates should not be counted.
Despite the Supreme Court’s edict, after the November 5th elections, some Pennsylvania election officials, not satisfied with the results (and especially the Senate race, where Republican Dave McCormick defeated incumbent Democrat Bob Casey by a narrow margin), decided to ignore the court’s edict and continue to count misdated ballots.
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court clarified that misdated absentee or mail-in ballots are not to be counted.
The relevant part of the order can be seen below.
The Court hereby ASSUMES its King’s Bench authority over the instant Application, see 42 Pa.C.S. § 502, only to DIRECT that all Respondents, including the Boards of Elections in Bucks County, Montgomery County, and Philadelphia County, SHALL COMPLY with the prior rulings of this Court in which we have clarified that mail-in and absentee ballots that fail to comply with the requirements of the Pennsylvania Election Code, see 25 P.S. §§ 3146.6(a), 3150.16(a), SHALL NOT BE COUNTED for purposes of the election held on November 5, 2024.
To the election boards who continue to break the law, I say: Stop it!
Michael Whatley, RNC Chair, issued the following statement following the court ruling on X:
MCCORMICK/CASEY UPDATE ON RECOUNT:
After our latest RNC suit, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled today that undated ballots CANNOT be COUNTED.
No more excuses. Election officials in Bucks, Montgomery, Philadelphia, and other counties have absolutely no choice but to reject illegal ballots. We will hold them to it.
Protect the Vote!!!
A recount is inevitable, as the race is still within.5 percentage points (and Casey refused to waive it).
The boards of election have been warned in no uncertain words to stop counting the ballots. Will they obey the court order? As soon as we have any new information, we’ll let you know.
