The Republican Party has claimed a major legal victory after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court banned the counting of undated or misdated absentee ballots in the upcoming midterm election.
In an order issued Tuesday, the court told the Pennsylvania county boards of elections “to refrain from counting any absentee and mail-in ballots received for the November 8, 2022 general election that are contained in undated or incorrectly dated outer envelopes.”
The court was “evenly divided” on the issue of whether failing to count the undated ballots is a constitutional violation; therefore, it ordered that all misdated or undated ballots be put aside and preserved by the county boards of elections.
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Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, reacted to the court order in a Tuesday evening tweet, claiming a “massive” legal victory. “The PA Supreme Court agrees with us that incorrectly or undated mail ballots can not be counted in next week’s elections,” McDaniel tweeted. “Republicans went to court. Now Democrats have to follow the law.”
The RNC, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Pennsylvania GOP filed the lawsuit on Oct. 16, claiming that the state is dodging state law and a previous Supreme Court ruling illegally, saying it intends to count undated absentee ballots.
According to the GOP groups, Leigh Chapman, the Democratic acting secretary of state for Pennsylvania, defied a U.S. Supreme Court decision and the Republican-majority Pennsylvania General Assembly, directing county elections boards to count undated mail-in ballots.
Pennsylvania is currently in the spotlight due to it’s closely fought contest for a U.S. Senate seat. The contest comes down to Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and the Republican political outsider Dr. Mehmet Oz. This seat could determine control of the U.S. Senate.
Oz is shaping up to be a serious contender after a debate that appeared disastrous for Fetterman and his campaign. Fetterman often experienced difficulty in speaking and communicating during the debate against Oz, as a result of lingering effects of a stroke he suffered earlier this year. Fetterman needed closed captioning to understand comments from Oz and the moderators during the debate.
The Daily Wire reported that “during the debate, Fetterman repeatedly stammered, had awkward pauses, seemed to be out of sync with what was being said, and even had outbursts which included shouting at opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz (R) during closing statements.”