Commonwealth Policy Center

All U.S. Senate races have now been called, including Pennsylvania, where election officials held a recount in a race where Republican David McCormick who beat Democratic incumbent Bob Casey by 16,000 votes. However, during the recount, Democratic election officials in three counties accepted mail-in ballots which did not include the handwritten date. The law requires that election official reject the ballots as invalid as the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court ruled earlier this year. It is important because election integrity matters. When election officials flout the law and illegally count invalid ballots it undermines trust in our government. Democracy depends on free and fair elections and Democratic election officials who are counting the ballots would do well to honor democracy.