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    • 6 things to know about the recount in the Pennsylvania Senate race
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    6 things to know about the recount in the Pennsylvania Senate race

    Online Niel Posted on

    Republicans accuse Democrats of not accepting the results of the Pennsylvania Senate election, but of trying to steal it from GOP challenger Dave McCormick and hand it to the incumbent Democrat. Bob Casey Jr.

    Governor of Pennsylvania. Josh Shapiroa Democrat, and officials in his administration insisted before and on Election Day that the state would have safe and fair elections.

    After the election, however, as recounts of the Senate race unfold, the Casey campaign — declared the loser by most news organizations — claims that McCormick and Republicans want to “win” voters.

    Casey supporters also argue that McCormick — declared the winner by most media outlets — is trying to “silence Pennsylvania.”

    The McCormick campaign and other Republicans challenged the legitimacy of mail-in and provisional ballots in the election. Meanwhile, the Casey campaign and other Democrats argued against disqualifying ballots from those not listed on the voter rolls.

    Before the election, the general consensus was that the Keystone State and its 19 electoral votes provided the key to presidential elections.

    That was not the case, however, as former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, swept all seven battleground states on Nov. 5 to win the popular vote as well as a total of 312 electoral votes to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris, Democrat. nominated.

    But the Pennsylvania Senate race has come to a close. Decision Desk HQ officially called the race Thursday for McCormick. The Associated Press had called the race for McCormick the previous Friday, November 8th.

    That result, if it holds, would give Republicans a 53-seat majority in the Senate. But it won’t be a certainty until the day before Thanksgiving.

    Here are six things to know about The Pennsylvania Story.

    1. What happens to undated or incorrectly dated ballot papers?

    The key question in the recount for the Pennsylvania Senate seat is which votes are subject to the recount.

    In a victory Thursday for the Casey campaign, Bucks County voted to count ballots that were not dated or were improperly dated under state law.

    On Nov. 1, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that mail-in ballots must be dated to be counted in the Nov. 5 election. However, Democratic officials in some counties are now looking to count undated or incorrectly dated ballots.

    Without a date on the ballot, it is unclear whether it was cast on Election Day or before. Arguing before the state Supreme Court Thursday morning, the Pennsylvania Republican Party objected to the counting of undated ballots.

    “While Republican US Senate candidate Dave McCormick currently holds an insurmountable lead of nearly 30,000 votes over his Democratic opponent Bob Casey, numerous County Boards of Elections, including Philadelphia, Bucks, Center and potentially others, have cast impromptu votes for to count undated or incorrectly dated mail. -on the ballot, in bold defiance of Pennsylvania law and two state Supreme Court orders,” the state’s Republican Party said in a post on social media platform X.

    The Republican National Committee joined the argument in the state Supreme Court and filed a separate process in Bucks County to stop the counting of undated and improperly dated ballots.

    “Dave McCormick won this election and is already attending Senate briefings,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a public statement. “Meanwhile, Democratic officials and scam lawyers are aiding and abetting Bob Casey’s shameful attempts to steal back a Senate seat he decisively lost.”

    “RCN is filing a motion with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to ensure that Pennsylvania’s democratic process is not undermined by the inclusion of illegal ballots in the final vote count,” Whatley said. “Pennsylvanians are ready to move forward with Dave McCormick representing them in the Senate as Bob Casey burns down any legacy he had with these undemocratic schemes.”

    Casey’s campaign manager, Tiernan Donohue, criticized the GOP’s processes and argued that large numbers of votes could be thrown away as a result.

    “David McCormick and his allies are trying to target Pennsylvania voters with litigation designed to throw out large swathes of votes they’ve admitted in legal filings could impact the outcome of the election,” Donohue said in a public statement. “Sen. Casey wants all Pennsylvanians’ voices to be heard as local county election officials continue to count the votes. This democratic process must be allowed to unfold to determine the outcome of this election.”

    2. Will unregistered voters count?

    Casey’s campaign challenged the rejection of provisional ballots and mail-in ballots cast by voters whose names were not found on voter registration lists.

    Casey’s campaign sent a letter Wednesday to Lackawanna County Attorney Donald Frederickson to challenge the county’s rejection of some provisional ballots and mail-in ballots. Lackawanna County includes Scranton, the hometown of President Joe Biden.

    The Casey campaign disputes the rejection of voters who “were not on the ballot on Election Day and were later determined by the (Elections) Board not to be registered,” the letter said. “We are asking the board to take several additional steps to confirm voter eligibility.”

    The incumbent Democrat’s campaign “challenges the rejection of the provisional ballots based solely on the failure of board staff to find voters’ names on the lists of registered voters,” the letter later adds.

    “In fact, York County officials recently discovered that 13 percent of ballots rejected as ‘not recorded’ were cast in error.”

    McCormick campaign manager Matt Gruda posted on X that this is “proof” that the Casey campaign wants to count illegal votes.

    Ari Fleisher, President George W. Bush’s first press secretary, posted on X: “Casey’s case for a recount boils down to his trying to convince a court that unregistered people should be allowed to vote. Keep an eye out for this, folks. That’s what D lawyers do. Good thing Dave’s advance is too big to handle.”

    The Daily Signal reached out to the Casey campaign about efforts to count the votes of unregistered voters. A spokesperson did not respond by press time.

    In a video statement Wednesday, Casey said, “The American democratic process was born in Pennsylvania, and that process will continue.”

    3. What assurances did Pennsylvania voters have before the election?

    After the election, the Casey campaign accused opponents of widespread voter disenfranchisement. But before Election Day, Democrats largely assured the public of clean and fair elections.

    Shapiro, the Democratic governor, dismissed concerns about potential irregularities in a Fox News interview that aired in late October.

    “I think everybody needs to take a deep breath and understand that it’s our fellow Pennsylvanians who are running this election and we’re going to have free and fair, safe and secure elections again.” Shapiro said.

    Shapiro was on Harris’ short list of possible running mates before opting for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

    “The November 5 election in Pennsylvania will be free, fair, safe and secure,” said Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt, a registered Republican appointed by Shapiro. he said the day before the election.

    Before the election, Schmidt too said The New Yorker: “We are in an environment where anything could be construed as intentional and malicious and aimed at altering the outcome of an election.”

    4. How expensive and how necessary is the recount?

    Pennsylvania Senate Election Counting Will Cost Taxpayers over 1 million dollarsaccording to Schmidt’s office.

    Schmidt announced Wednesday that the Senate race between Casey and McCormick was close enough to trigger an automatic recount.

    The current vote count shows McCormick with 3,380,310 votes, or 48.93% of the total, to Casey’s 3,350,972 votes, or 48.5%.

    Because the difference between the two totals is half a percentage point, the margin triggers a recount under state law.

    5. When will we know the result?

    Pennsylvania counties involved must begin recounts in the Senate race no later than Nov. 20 and must complete their recounts by noon on Nov. 26.

    Counties must report the results to the secretary of state by noon on Nov. 27. By this point, an official winner should be clear.

    6. How common are recounts in Pennsylvania?

    This is the eighth time an automatic recount has been triggered in the state since legislation known as Act 97 was passed in 2004, according to the secretary of state.

    Interestingly, the last time a recount took place was in 2022 when Mehmet Oz defeated McCormick in a Republican Senate primary. That statewide GOP endorsement cost $1 million.

    In the ensuing general election, Oz lost to Democrat John Fetterman.

    This twist of fortune led Casey supporters to troll McCormick on X.

    A post on X asks: “In 2022, Dave McCormick wanted every vote to count. What has changed? Now they are trying to silence voters prematurely. We won’t let him get away! Every vote must count.”

    Another post states that “McCormick is trying to silence Pennsylvanians and claim victory prematurely. It won’t happen.

    Every vote must count.”

    Other recent examples of renamings have also come at a high price. An account of a 2021 judicial race for Commonwealth Court cost taxpayers $1.1 million, according to the secretary of state’s office.

    A 2011 recount in the primary for another Commonwealth Court judge term cost $525,000. In 2009, taxpayers paid $541,698 for the Superior Court general election recount.

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