Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democrat Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormick sparked a legal showdown over whether to count mail-in ballots missing handwritten dates. With a mandatory recount underway, Republicans are challenging multiple county decisions to include undated or misdated ballots, a move that Democrats argue would disenfranchise voters.
In the days leading up to the Nov. 5 election, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered counties to enforce the handwritten date requirement on all mail ballots, a rule that Republicans say disqualifies any ballot without a proper date.
However, Democratic-leaning counties such as Bucks and Philadelphia have counted hundreds of such ballots, arguing that timestamps prove the ballots were received on time.
On Nov. 12, the Bucks County Board of Elections voted 2-1 along party lines to count 405 undated or misdated mail ballots. Similarly, the Philadelphia City Commissioners voted 2-1 to count several hundred ballots with date issues, sparking a new round of lawsuits.
The Republican National Committee and Pennsylvania GOP filed an appeal, asking the state Supreme Court to use its King’s Bench Power to enforce the court’s order across the state.
Republican Senate candidate McCormick, who declared victory and currently holds a narrow lead, has joined the RNC’s legal efforts. He filed suit against the Bucks County decision, calling undated ballots invalid and accusing Casey’s team of attempting to “count illegal ballots.”
In response, the Casey campaign called McCormick’s reversal hypocritical, noting that he supported counting ballots with date issues in his last Senate race recount in 2022.
“Senator Casey’s priority continues to be making sure Pennsylvanians’ voices are heard,” said his campaign manager, Tiernan Donohue, while accusing McCormick of trying to suppress votes.
As Pennsylvania law requires an automatic recount for any race with a margin of 0.5% or less, counties are set to start the process by Nov. 20, with final recount results due by Nov. 27.
The Department of State estimates that the recount will cost taxpayers over $1 million.
