‘Critical to the Rule of Law’

Court ruling marks latest blow for Casey’s efforts to overturn his loss to Republican Dave McCormick

The Democrat-controlled Pennsylvania Supreme Court slapped down Democratic senator Bob Casey’s attempts to count invalid mail-in ballots, the latest blow to the three-term incumbent’s efforts to overturn his loss to Republican Dave McCormick.

The court upheld its ruling earlier this month that mail-in and absentee ballots that lack the required signatures and accurate dates cannot be counted. “It is critical to the rule of law that individual counties and municipalities and their elected and appointed officials, like any other parties, obey orders of this Court,” Justice David Wecht, a Democrat, wrote in a concurring opinion.

At issue were efforts by Casey’s allies in several Pennsylvania counties to openly defy the earlier Supreme Court ruling in hopes of counting invalid mail-in ballots. The boldest act of defiance came from Bucks County commissioners Diane Ellis-Marseglia and Bob Harvie, longtime allies of Casey who donated $2,600 to his campaign this year. “The law needs to be changed,” Harvie said at a commission meeting last week. And Marseglia announced she would openly defy the earlier Supreme Court ruling because “precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country.”

“People violate laws anytime they want. So, for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention,” Marseglia said.

Casey has refused to concede the race, which he trailed by around 31,000 votes when the Associated Press called it in favor of McCormick. The Washington Post editorial board urged Casey to drop out of the race and waive his right to a recount, which is triggered when the vote margin is within a half of a percentage point. The recount, which will last until Nov. 26, will cost taxpayers at least $1 million.

“Today’s ruling is a massive setback to Senator Casey’s attempt to count illegal ballots,” McCormick campaign spokeswoman Elizabeth Gregory said after the ruling. “Bucks County and others blatantly violated the law in an effort to help Senator Casey. Senator-elect McCormick is very pleased with this ruling and looks forward to taking the Oath of Office in a few short weeks.”

The court, which is made up of five Democrats and two Republicans, issued the ruling hours after Casey defended his refusal to concede the race on the grounds that he wants to see all “legal” votes counted in the race. But Casey also suggested that he supports the actions of his allies in Bucks County and that the Supreme Court ruling had the effect of “disenfranchising thousands of voters.”

“This close race has also put a spotlight on undated mail ballots, as my opponent and his allies have filed an appeal with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to disqualify mail ballots where a voter has accidentally written the date wrong or didn’t write a date at all,” Casey wrote in a PennLive op-ed. “At its core, this is a debate about the constitutionality of disenfranchising thousands of voters due to a requirement that has no bearing on a voters’ eligibility and has no impact in deterring fraud.”

Casey’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the Supreme Court decision.