CNN
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Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick is pushing for undated mail-in ballots to be counted in his neck-and-neck Republican major towards Mehmet Oz following a court docket ruling on a special election.
The third US Circuit Courtroom of Appeals in Philadelphia dominated Friday that undated ballots ought to be counted in a November 2021 election for a county judgeship. The three-judge panel has not but issued a proper opinion, and the secretary of state has not but issued steering about whether or not this ruling ought to apply to different elections, together with Tuesday’s major race. It’s additionally unclear what number of ballots had been submitted with no date within the Senate GOP contest in Pennsylvania.
However McCormick, a former hedge fund supervisor who has outperformed the Donald Trump-endorsed Oz on the subject of mail-in ballots, is searching for to make use of the ruling to his potential benefit.
A regulation agency representing McCormick’s marketing campaign wrote to all 67 counties within the commonwealth and suggested them to depend any undated ballots in gentle of the ruling from the third US Circuit Courtroom of Appeals, and mentioned it will request a proper listening to on the matter if that doesn’t occur.
“We belief that in gentle of the Third Circuit’s judgment you’ll advise your respective Boards to depend any and all absentee or mail-in ballots that had been well timed acquired however had been put aside/not counted just because these ballots lacked a voter-provided date on the surface of the envelope,” McCormick’s lawyer mentioned in an e mail, which was obtained by CNN. “To the extent you aren’t prepared to offer this recommendation, we ask for a proper listening to earlier than your Boards on this problem.”
Oz presently holds a slender lead over McCormick; a recount can be robotically triggered if the race is inside half a share level.
A McCormick marketing campaign aide instructed CNN: “We’re glad votes proceed to be counted.”
Oz’s marketing campaign plans to oppose McCormick’s request, in response to Oz marketing campaign supervisor Casey Contres, who accused McCormick’s authorized crew of utilizing a Democratic playbook, warning it may have “long run dangerous penalties for our elections within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
“Dr. Mehmet Oz continues to respectfully enable Pennsylvania’s vote counting course of to happen and places his religion within the Republican voters who we consider have chosen him as their nominee,” Contres mentioned in an announcement. “That’s the reason our marketing campaign will oppose the McCormick authorized crew’s request that election boards ignore each Pennsylvania Supreme Courtroom and state election regulation and settle for legally rejected ballots.”
A spokesman for Pennsylvania’s Division of State mentioned officers there “should not have an estimate of the variety of impacted ballots” and “will likely be surveying counties to get that determine and issuing steering to assist them.”
However the spokesman additionally praised the appeals court docket ruling, saying, “We’re happy that the third Circuit agreed with the Commonwealth’s interpretation of the statute, which can assist be certain that voters who inadvertently fail thus far their poll will not be disenfranchised by that error.”