While the 2024 presidential election has had relatively few down-ballot issues compared to 2000 and 2020, there are some ongoing down-ballot issues in several Senate races in swing states that the Republican Party is focusing on.

The so-called “blue wall” states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin both broke for President-elect Donald Trump in the presidential election, but Republicans and Democrats are still fighting for Senate seats in both states. While each party was projected to win one of the Senate seats, there are discrepancies in vote counts in both elections that could change the outcome.

Pennsylvania

In the race for a US Senate seat in Pennsylvania, Republican candidate Dave McCormick was projected as winner by The Associated Press two days after Election Day. Pennsylvania Department of State reported that Democratic incumbent Senator Bob Casey received 3,350,972 (48.5%) votes and McCormick got 3,380,310 (48.93%).

Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt (R) announced Wednesday that a recognition was taking place of the Senate race after race results fell within the 0.5% threshold that automatically triggers a recount.

Schmidt said counties must begin recounts by Nov. 20 and that the process must be completed by noon on Nov. 26, according to NBC News. Results must then be reported by November 27 and will be published once confirmed. The lawsuit is expected to cost the community more than $1 million.

The story comes as Casey decline to give up the race and has hired Democratic electoral lawyer Marc Elias to fight for an election victory. Still, McCormick declared victory and traveled to Washington, DC, for another Senate orientation last week.

Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee has filed two lawsuits to stop the counting of “illegal” ballots. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled before the election that mail-in ballots that do not have the proper dates or signatures will not be included in the official results. However, according to Fox Newsofficials in Bucks County and Montgomery County reportedly ignored the order.

“I think we all know that court precedent doesn’t count in this country anymore,” the Bucks County commissioner said. Diane Ellis-Marseglia (D) said during a county commission meeting on Thursday.

“People break laws whenever they want. So for me, if I break this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention. There’s nothing more important than counting votes,” she addedfailing to distinguish between legal and illegal votes.

Republicans dismissed the counties involved in “illegal” vote counts.

“Insurmountable Lead”

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

“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. Pennsylvanians are ready to move on with Dave McCormick representing them in the Senate while Bob Casey burns any legacy he had with these undemocratic schemes.”

The The Pennsylvania GOP said Thursday that several counties are ignoring Pennsylvania Supreme Court rulings.

“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 impromptu votes to count undated or incorrectly dated mail. on the ballot, in bold defiance of Pennsylvania law and two orders of the State Supreme Court,” said the party-state.

“Last month, the State Supreme Court ordered Pennsylvania’s county boards of elections and courts to enforce the General Assembly’s mandatory date requirement for mail-in ballots in the 2024 general election. Less than two weeks ago, the Court again ordered that the date requirement “shall apply … to the general election of November 5, 2024.” the group continued.

“In his concurrence, Judge Donohue harshly criticized the continued last-ditch efforts by courts and litigants to invalidate the 2024 general election date requirement. In his (sic) King’s Bench petition, the PA GOP asks the State Supreme Court to reaffirm from new “that the requirement date applies to the 2024 general election”.

Wisconsin

At the same time the GOP is going to court in Pennsylvania, there are also concerns about the vote count in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Senate race was called by The Associated Press for incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin the day after Election Day. The news bulletin’s vote counts have Baldwin about 29,000 votes ahead of her opponent, Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde.

Tuesday, Hovde posted a video on X about overnight ballots after election day.

“I was shocked by what happened on election night,” Hovde said. “At 1 o’clock in the morning, I was getting congratulatory calls, and based on the models, it looked like I was going to win the Senate race. Then, at 4 a.m., Milwaukee reported about 108,000 absentee ballots, with Sen. Baldwin receiving nearly 90 percent of those ballots. Statistically, this result seems improbable because it did not match the same-day voting patterns in Milwaukee, where we received 22 percent of the vote.”

“Since last Wednesday, numerous parties have contacted me about voting discrepancies, such as certain precincts in Milwaukee that have a turnout of 150% of registered voters, and in some cases over 200%,” explained Hovdelater adding that “this was achieved by same-day voter registration, which increased by almost 50% on a rainy day”.

He said the lack of voter roll maintenance and Democrats endorsing third-party candidates in the Senate race to draw votes away from him were some of the election integrity issues he was concerned about.

After all the necessary election information is available and he can consider his options, then Hovde said he will determine how to move forward.

Election Integrity in the Trump Administration

While Trump has been concerned about election integrity throughout the election cycle, the problem will likely continue into his presidency. With Republicans in charge of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives next year, legislation on election integrity such as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE) could be passed. The SAVE Act would amend the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 to make states require documentation of a person’s citizenship before registering to vote in federal elections.

Additionally, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., before he was appointed attorney general and resigned from Congress, introduced a draft law on the integrity of elections on Tuesday, that would make it a crime for non-citizens to vote.