HARISBOURG, Pennsylvania (AP) – When last year’s Philadelphia Electoral Commission prepared to count ballots sent by mail without a handwritten date, Republicans threatened impeachment. Now a candidate for the GOP Senate wants the counties to take the same approach.
In a recent attempt to bridge the gap of about 900 votes with Dr. Mehmet Oz, former hedge fund chief executive David McCormick insisted on counting undated mail ballots. The Republican primary in the Senate is still too close to convene, now more than two weeks after the primary in Pennsylvania, and a postal vote in McCormick’s favor could help.
McCormick insists he simply wants every Republican vote to be counted in a race that will decide the Republican nominee for one of the most closely watched Senate races this year. But by calling for an undated ballot count, McCormick has put the Republican Party in an awkward position after spending most of two years ridiculing the vote as “illegal”, along with a wider embrace of the former president’s lies. Donald Trump on widespread fraud in the 2020 campaign
“Now it looks like we can do something if it affects the race the way you want it to go,” said Mike Barley, a Republican campaign strategist in Pennsylvania who has no candidate in the Senate race.
The National and State Parties are fighting McCormick in state courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court can resolve the matter every day. In any case, most Republicans believe that McCormick is unlucky and will not be able to replenish the votes in the recount, regardless of whether the ballots without a date are counted.
More registered Democrats vote by mail in Pennsylvania than registered Republicans, presumably as a result of Trump’s unfounded outline of the postal vote as fraudulent.
So far, Republican leaders have been firmly united in the idea that ballots without a voter’s handwritten date on the envelope should be discarded.
The law, they argued, is clear on this issue – even if this handwritten date on the envelope does not play a role in determining whether a voter is eligible to vote or whether the ballot is cast on time.
Then, three days after the May 17 primary election, a federal appeals court ruled in a case stemming from last year’s local elections that throwing out such ballots violated federal civil rights law.
As he tried to find votes to get ahead of Trump’s approval, McCormick argued that “every Republican vote should count” and in court, his lawyer, Charles Cooper, told a U.S. judge that the purpose of Pennsylvania’s election law was to allow people to vote, “not to play games with them.”
McCormick’s persecution served as a blow to Republicans who threatened to impeach Philadelphia election officials last year after counting such ballots and accusing state judges of stealing a seat in the Senate in 2020 when they decided the ballots could be counted in this year’s elections.
This time, however, Republicans are not appointing judges or threatening to impeach the district election commissions that count the ballots.
“Not right now, because there are still lawsuits,” said Seth Grove, a Republican who chairs the election law committee.
In court, the Republican National Committee and the Republican State Party opposed McCormick. However, the party is not united in this effort.
For example, the Butler County Republican Party, which backed McCormick, did not take part in the battle, said county party chairman Al Lindsey.
Districts that have already counted undated ballots without being forced to include Republican counties, both large and small.
Sam DeMarco, chairman of the Republican Party in the densely populated Alegeni district, said he did not know that Republicans had actually changed their minds about the law.
Rather, he has heard Republicans resent McCormick, “because they think Democrats would.”
In any case, it is probably better to end the Republican primary election fight than leave it to the general election, he said.
“I just want a final decision and I am personally happy that this is happening now, in the primary elections, not in November, where the real place will be taken,” DeMarco said.
The winner of the GOP primary will face Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman in November.
Barley, the campaign strategist, said the notion that the party had changed its position – or that some Republicans had done so – set a dangerous precedent.
“What happens in November if it doesn’t work out and then you don’t want to count?” He asked.
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Follow Mark Levy on Twitter at twitter.com/timelywriter.
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