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The Republican primary in the Pennsylvania Senate is almost certainly on the verge of a recount after the Associated Press said Friday that it could not predict a winner because margins are too low.
TV President and Cardiac Surgeon Mehmet Oz, approved by former President Donald Trump, led former hedge fund CEO David McCormick by 1,079 votes, with 98 per cent of sections counting, possibly triggering an automatic recount as the margin is less than half from the votes.
Unless McCormick admits by noon on Wednesday, the Pennsylvania State Department will formally order a recount, which must begin no later than June 1 and end by noon on June 7, with results likely to be released the next day.
Each county must count the ballots using a different method than the one originally used, which could be by hand or a different type of device, said Grace Griffaton, a State Department spokeswoman in an email. Candidates and a lawyer can watch the recount, she said.
Oz and McCormick have been locked in a bitter, damaging race for weeks, with Trump casting support behind another television celebrity who says he’s been known for years while other people associated with Trump as a dreamer. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo backed McCormick.
Both are fighting for the chance to retain the seat of retired Senator Patrick J. Tumi in the hands of the Republican Party. Republicans must retain their seat in the column if they hope to regain a Senate majority. In the last weeks of the race, there have been concerns about the rise of a third candidate, Katie Barnett, a conservative commentator who has made controversial statements about Muslims and gays. That prompted Trump and Fox News presenter Sean Hanniti to condemn her lack of “rigorous scrutiny.” Barnett finished third, with about 87,000 votes behind McCormick on Friday night.
Trump called on Oz to “declare victory” before the vote in Pennsylvania ended.
Because the race was so close, exclusive ballot papers from abroad, as well as military and absentee ballots, which always take longer to count because Pennsylvania does not allow them to open before election day, have become more important.
Following Tuesday’s vote, Trump, repeating his 2020 rhetoric, began to cast doubt on the results, suggesting that the ballots were somehow fraudulent and that Oz should be the winner.
No campaign has echoed Trump’s allegations of voter fraud, and there is no evidence of any wrongdoing. Trump and his allies have sought to discredit mail ballots, which has become a more common way to vote as a precautionary measure for COVID.
Both campaigns this week were set on their chances of winning. McCormick, Oz and their deputies have said publicly that they will be ahead once all the ballots have been counted.
“The facts show that counting valid absentee ballots is very likely to put @DaveMcCormickPA at the top of the PA Senate race. This is great news for Pennsylvania and for America, “Pompeo wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
About 15,000 ballots remain to be counted, said a Republican operative linked to McCormick’s campaign, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss next steps. McCormick’s campaign has prompted hundreds of volunteers and lawyers scattered across the state in all 67 counties to monitor the remaining vote count and prepare for the recount.
In a further twist, a federal court of appeals in Philadelphia ruled in a non-Senate primary election that undated ballots could be counted. U.S. law says voters must sign and date the outer envelope, and ballots that were not were rejected.
The McCormick aide said the campaign plans to warn all counties of the court ruling, which could mean that thousands of ballots that would otherwise be thrown away will now be counted.
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