Pennsylvania Supreme Court upholds exclusion of certain mail-in ballots, in victory for GOP

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Monday that mail-in ballots with incorrect or missing dates cannot be counted in the 2024 election, delivering a victory to Republican Party officials as they moved to aggressively defend their narrow Senate victory in amid a recount challenge in the Keystone State. 

In a 4-3 decision, the state Supreme Court reaffirmed its prior decision that counties in the state cannot count incorrectly dated or undated ballots, explicitly singling out Boards of Elections in Bucks County, Montgomery County, and Philadelphia County, whom they said "SHALL COMPLY with the prior rulings of this Court in which we have clarified" for mail-in and absentee ballots in their Nov. 1 ruling.

The decision is a victory for Republican Party officials, who had filed 12 different lawsuits in the state amid an aggressive Senate recount effort following the narrow victory of Republican candidate David McCormick over three-term Democrat Sen. Bob Casey. 

REPUBLICANS FILE 12 PENNSYLVANIA LAWSUITS IN 'AGGRESSIVE' PUSH TO END RECOUNT

McCormick had defeated Casey by some 17,000 ballots in the state, or within the 0.5% margin of error that allows Casey to qualify for an automatic recount under Pennsylvania law, according to the latest unofficial records compiled by the Pennsylvania Department of State. 

But ahead of the Pennsylvania Senate recount, which officially kicked off on Monday, Republicans had sounded the alarm over election county officials in Philadelphia, Bucks County, and Montgomery County for moving to allow for the counting of some incorrectly dated and undated mail-in and absentee ballots—an effort party officials said broke with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision.

Republican Party officials then joined McCormick's campaign in filing an emergency petition with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in a bid to prevent them from moving forward with the recount. 

Democrat Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a Monday night statement that he expects all county election officials to "adhere to this ruling and the applicable laws" governing elections in the commonwealth as the recount process continues.

"As we move forward, I want to be clear: any insinuation that our laws can be ignored or do not matter is irresponsible and does damage to faith in our electoral process," Shapiro said. "The rule of law matters in this Commonwealth, and as I have always said, it is critical for counties and officials in both parties to respect it with both their rhetoric and their actions."

Still, Shapiro also used his statement to criticize what he and other Democrats in the Keystone State have bemoaned as a lack of clarity about undated mail-in ballots, which Shapiro said he believes has put counties in a challenging legal position. 

"Given this lack of clarity, county officials in each of our 67 counties were damned if they did and damned if they didn’t – likely facing legal action no matter which decision they made on counting," he said.

Speaking to reporters on a call Monday, Republican Party Chair Michael Whatley vowed to maintain "an aggressive, comprehensive and strategic legal posture for as long as it takes to ensure that this election is going to be certified" in Pennsylvania, and to bring an end to what party officials described as "corrupt and despicable conduct" by Democrats in the state.

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While the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Nov. 1 that requiring mail-in ballots to have handwritten dates is constitutional, in a victory for the GOP, the new framing is more direct— establishing that counties trying to count such ballots are indeed trying to violate the law.