Although Republicans are usually the party of election denialism, the way Democrats are conducting themselves in the aftermath of Pennsylvania's Senate election opens them up to criticism on election integrity.
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Generally, it is more than fair to say that, when it comes to election integrity, promoting democracy, and respecting the outcome of elections, Democrats are running circles around the GOP.
However, the way they are conducting themselves in the Pennsylvania Senate election, where incumbent Bob Casey (D) is trailing his challenger David McCormick (R) by fewer than 20,000 votes, is not a good look.
The tightness of the outcome triggered an automatic recount, so it’s perfectly fine that Bob Casey has not conceded even though media outlets have called the race in favor of McCormick.
However, in defiance of a previous Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling, Democratic-controlled elections boards in three counties have been counting mail-in ballots that were either misdated or not dated at all.
This led the court to issue another opinion on Monday that directs officials in Bucks county, Montgomery County, and Philadelphia County to comply with the earlier rulings “in which we have clarified that mail-in and absentee ballots that fail to comply with the requirements of the Pennsylvania Election Code […] SHALL NOT BE COUNTED for purposes of the election held on November 5, 2024.”
In a concurring opinion, Justice David Wecht, who was joined by Justice Sallie Updyke Mundy, stated that 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.”
In another concurring opinion, which was joined by the aforementioned judges, Justice Kevin Brobson also had strong words for the defiant Democratic officials.
“I write separately to disabuse local elections officials of the notion that they have the authority to ignore Election Code provisions that they believe are unconstitutional,” he wrote.
Ignoring a court order to count ballots that likely favor Casey in a race that he is very likely to lose undermines some of the charges Democrats have directed against Republicans.
While this behavior doesn’t rise anywhere close to that of Donald Trump following his 2020 election loss, it still opens Democrats up to criticism… and GOP lawmakers have seized this opportunity for attacks of their own.
“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rightfully struck down the flagrantly lawless campaign by Bob Casey and his scumbag lawyer, Marc Elias, to undermine the will of the voters and steal a Senate seat weeks after the election was called,” stated the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which also urged Democrats to “call on Casey to concede and stop undermining faith in our elections.”
Of course, it is more than hypocritical that Republicans, which are still denying Trump’s loss in 2020, are making grand statements about election integrity.
In this case, however, they at least have some justification and Democrats risk losing more than just a Senate seat.
In his Navigating the Insanity columns, Klaus Marre provides the kind of hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and often humorous analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
