As vote counting continues this week in Pennsylvania’s tight Senate race, attention is once again shifting toward the largest and most hotly contested tranche of remaining votes that could help incumbent Democrat Bob Casey make up his deficit.
At least four counties — including Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, and Centre — have voted to include thousands of undated and misdated mail ballots in their final vote tallies in apparent defiance of earlier rulings from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
That move prompted a pair of new lawsuits Thursday from Republican candidate Dave McCormick and his GOP allies seeking to block them — and, in McCormick’s case, a reversal from his position in 2022, when he pushed courts to order the inclusion of undated ballots amid another tight contest, his GOP primary race that year against TV doctor Mehmet Oz.
Heading into last week’s race, the matter appeared to be settled. The state’s Supreme Court justices had twice ruled that for the 2024 election counties should reject mail ballots submitted by voters who’d failed to write the correct date on their ballot envelope, as required by state law.
Now, the rebellious votes by some counties and the ongoing fight between Casey and McCormick — who currently leads his rival by just over 25,000 votes — threatens to rip open the debate once again….