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Multiple local and national publications called the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania last week for Republican challenger and combat veteran Dave McCormick. Although the writing is on the wall, Sen. Bob Casey, the Democratic incumbent, has refused to admit defeat. Casey's allies are now engaging in the very conduct and echoing the same kind of language that Democrats have spent years condemning.
Days after the Wall Street Journal's editorial board claimed that Marc Elias, elections attorney for the Democratic Party, was "back and trying to steal a Senate seat for Bob Casey," Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley warned that Democratic officials and lawyers "are trying to sow doubt in the democratic process."
That doubt is sure to grow, now that the state is holding a recount and Democrats are pushing to count illegal ballots.
Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt announced Wednesday that the unofficial results, with Philadelphia's legal and uncontested ballots accounted for, automatically triggered a statewide recount under Pennsylvania law. McCormick reportedly leads Casey by 29,338 votes, 48.93% to 48.50%. To avoid a recount, the Republican senator-elect would need to lead his opponent by 0.5%.
Schmidt indicated that after completing their initial counts, counties must begin the recount by no later than Nov. 20, then report the results to the state secretary by Nov. 27. The cost to the taxpayer of confirming Casey's loss will be in excess of $1 million.
McCormick's communications director Elizabeth noted, "Senator-Elect McCormick's lead is insurmountable, which the AP made clear. A recount will be a waste of time & taxpayer money, but it is Casey's prerogative. McCormick knows what it's like to lose an election & is sure Senator Casey will eventually reach the right conclusion."
Mark Harris, McCormick campaign consultant who has repeatedly emphasized there is no path to victory remaining for Casey, tweeted, "Since 2000, no US Senate race up by more than 500 votes has switched leads. Again I am the broken record but there's no path for Casey except wasting $1M+ of taxpayer [money.]"
'STOP the counting of illegal ballots.'
"Recounts are shifting a very small number of votes," Deb Otis, director of research and policy at FairVote told the Associated Press last month. "We're going to see recounts in 2024 that are not going to change the outcome."
The Wall Street Journal editorial board indicated Sunday that a recount would afford Marc Elias "a chance to try his legal shenanigans, which are likely to run the gamut from challenging votes for Mr. McCormick to searching for heretofore undiscovered ballots for Mr. Casey."
"Mr. Elias helped to steal a Senate seat in Minnesota for Al Franken in 2008 by finding a judge to count previously rejected ballots and overturn the lead of Republican Norm Coleman," continued the Journal. "The Elias method is to look for friendly judges who will rule in his favor. Pennsylvania has a Republican secretary of state who supervises elections but an especially partisan elected Democratic majority on the state Supreme Court. So far Gov. Josh Shapiro and other officials aren’t commenting on Mr. Elias."
Whatley vowed to ensure the RNC and Pennsylvania GOP "will have attorneys and observers in every county in the state to ensure only lawful ballots are counted. Again."
According to Whatley, the RNC filed two new lawsuits Wednesday evening in Bucks County and with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to "STOP the counting of illegal ballots."
Whatley clarified that Bucks County "is once again violating Pennsylvania law, this time by choosing to count undated and incorrectly dated ballots in a race that Dave McCormick has already won."
The lawsuit filed by Senator-elect McCormick and the RNC against Bucks County states that the board's decision "is legally erroneous because undated or misdated mail ballots are invalid as a matter of law and cannot be counted in the 2024 General Election — as the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has already made clear."
LevittownNow.com reported that the Democrat-controlled Bucks County Board of Elections approved canvassing and counting for most of the nearly 4,500 provisional ballots it has received.
The county election board is also counting hundreds of undated and incorrectly dated mail-in ballots even though the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled and reiterated that county election officials cannot count absentee ballots with incorrect or missing dates. State law requires mail-in ballots to be returned in two envelopes — an inner secrecy envelope and an outer envelope on which voters must pen their signatures and the current date.
"The Board's baffling decision not to enforce the date requirement and to count noncompliant ballots thus directly contravenes binding Pennsylvania law," continues the complaint.
The lawsuit further claims that the county board's decision violates the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause and the Pennsylvania Constitution.
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