State Supreme Court orders PA officials to stop counting undated absentee ballots

The Pennsylvania State Supreme Court on Monday ruled that election officials may not count undated absentee ballots received after the deadline of 7 p.m. on Election Day, upholding previous rulings that some officials had decided to defy.

Bucks County commissioners voted 2-1 last week to count 405 undated ballots, which prompted Senate candidate Dave McCormick (R) to file suit against them.

McCormick was declared the winner in his race against incumbent Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA) a week ago, but Casey has refused to concede the race.

The “board violated the Election Code’s mandatory date requirement and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s repeated orders holding that the date requirement must be enforced," McCormick lawyer Walter Zimolong wrote.

The board also voted to count ballots that were missing signatures, which is also illegal. At least one board member said she didn't care if they were violating the law.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Kevin Brobson wrote a concurring statement to the court’s order Monday “to disabuse local elections officials of the notion that they have the authority to ignore Election Code provisions that they believe are unconstitutional.”