Pennsylvania Senate candidate David McCormick sued Monday to force the counting of mail-in ballots without a handwritten date on the outside envelope, in order to possibly close the gap between him and opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Filed in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, the lawsuit asks the state to force all of the state’s 67 counties’ boards of elections to count Republican mail-in ballots that had been received on time but did not have a handwritten date on the outside envelope, which the statute mandates.
Campaign lawyers for McCormick are basing their case on a decision that a federal appellate court made allowing such ballots to be counted in a disputed election in Pennsylvania in 2021, according to the Washington Examiner.
“Both the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit have held that mail-in ballots should not be disqualified simply because the voters failed to hand write a date on the exterior mailing envelope of their ballots,” McCormick campaign Chief Legal Counsel Chuck Cooper told the Examiner, adding that “because all ballots are time-stamped by the County Boards of Elections on receipt, a voter's handwritten date is meaningless. All timely ballots of qualified Republican voters should be counted.”
Oz led McCormick by .08% as of six days after the primary election last week, with most precincts reporting. McCormick believes that he will surpass Oz when remaining Republican mail-in ballots are counted. McCormick campaign spokeswoman Jess Szymanski stated that “[E]very Republican primary vote should be counted, including the votes of Pennsylvania’s active-duty military members who risk their lives to defend our constitutional right to vote. When every Republican vote is counted, Dave looks forward to uniting the party and defeating socialist John Fetterman in the fall.”
However, Oz has dismissed McCormick’s optimism, saying that mail-in ballots will not change the outcome, which is likely headed for a recount. Oz campaign manager Casey Contres stated Monday that “David McCormick has been a formidable opponent, but it is becoming obvious that he is likely going to come up short to Dr. Mehmet Oz. Unfortunately, the McCormick legal team is following the Democrats’ playbook, a tactic that could have long-term harmful consequences for elections in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
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