The Republican Party criticized Democrats on Monday for refusing to concede the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania, targeting three-term Democratic Sen. Bob Casey for pursuing a recount effort they claim blatantly violates state law. The recount comes despite The Associated Press declaring Republican candidate David McCormick the winner after he narrowly defeated Casey. McCormick’s unofficial margin of victory is approximately 26,000 votes, placing the race within the 0.5% threshold under Pennsylvania law that mandates an automatic recount, Fox News noted on Monday.
Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt announced last week that the state would move forward with a recount, citing reports from counties across the Keystone State of approximately 80,000 uncounted provisional, mail-in, or absentee ballots. According to Schmidt, the recount began on Monday and is scheduled to continue through November 26, Fox noted. Republican Party officials maintain that the results are clear and that Casey has no viable path to overturning the outcome through a recount. They have also condemned Casey for refusing to waive the recount, which is projected to cost taxpayers over $1 million.”What’s taking place in these counties is absolute lawlessness,” Pennsylvania Republican Party Chair Lawrence Tabas said of the recount.
In recent days, the national and state Republican parties have filed petitions with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to exclude mail-in ballots with missing or incorrect dates from being counted in key counties, including Bucks, Centre, and Delaware counties, Fox continued. “Let’s be clear about what’s happening here: Democrats in Pennsylvania are brazenly trying to break the law by attempting to count illegal ballots. They are doing this because they want to steal a senate seat,” Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley wrote in a post on X. He also addressed the RNC lawsuits to contest the county decisions, vowing to “fight for as long as necessary” to ensure McCormick’s victory is certified. “This is the exact kind of left-wing election interference that undermines voter confidence,” Whatley said.
CNN investigative reporter Andy Kaczynski reported last week that Democrats in Bucks County have voted to count provisional ballots in the race despite a ruling from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court stating that these ballots should remain uncounted. “I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country,” said Democratic county commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia as she voted Thursday to count ballots where voters did not submit the two legally required signatures on the outside of the ballot. “People violate laws anytime they want. So, for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention. There’s nothing more important than counting votes.”
Conservative commentator Greg Price posted on X with a clip of the Bucks County proceedings, writing: “The Democrat Bucks County Commissioners just voted to count misdated and undated mail in ballots to try and help Bob Casey and one of them straight up says that she knows it’s illegal but simply does not care. Dems are trying to steal an election in PA.”
The Democrat Bucks County Commissioners just voted to count misdated and undated mail in ballots to try and help Bob Casey and one of them straight up says that she knows it’s illegal but simply does not care.
Dems are trying to steal an election in PA.pic.twitter.com/7KP4Qoy31b
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 14, 2024
McCormick and his allies pushed back on Thursday by filing lawsuits in Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, and Centre Counties to halt the counting of unsigned ballots and those returned without a postdate, making it impossible to verify whether they were received on time. Instead of escalating the dispute and accusing Democrats of attempting to steal the election, Republicans are projecting confidence in their position. “There is one inescapable truth to all of this,” said Mark Harris, lead strategist for the McCormick campaign. “When counting is done, Dave will be winning by tens of thousands of votes. It will not be close.”
