Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismisses GOP appeal to count undated ballots

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed a Republican’s appeal to count undated ballots in the state’s Senate primary race.

The court rejected Pennsylvania Senate candidate David McCormick’s lawsuit against Pennsylvania election officials arguing that the undated mail-in ballots should be counted in his primary race against Dr. Mehmet Oz, meaning the disputed ballots will not be counted. The court also denied a Republican motion to vacate a lower court decision made on June 2 denying McCormick’s application without prejudice.

On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to block a lower court decision that allowed the counting of undated ballots in a 2021 Pennsylvania judicial election. David Ritter, a Republican state judicial candidate in Lehigh County, pointed to an obscure law to argue that the undated ballots should not be counted in his race, and Oz filed a “friend of the court” brief supporting Ritter’s claims.

The primary election between McCormick and Oz on May 17 was initially deemed too close to call, with both candidates within a few percentage points of each other. McCormick conceded the race on June 3.

A recount in the primary race affirmed that Oz won the party’s nomination by 951 votes. The state’s population is over 12.96 million, according to the 2020 census [Washington Examiner].