The battleground state of Pennsylvania is living up to that moniker as Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) refuses to concede the race to Republican Sen.-elect Dave McCormick.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) called out Casey over the weekend with a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“If Bob Casey doesn’t concede, Pennsylvania keeps counting illegal votes, & Casey relies on those votes to claim victory, the Senate could refuse to seat him,” Lee wrote on Saturday.
Lee continued by citing
Article I, Sec. 5, Cl. 1, which says each “House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns, and Qualifications of its own Members.”
Casey, the incumbent in the race has refused to concede to McCormick almost two weeks post-election even though his challenger won by about 26,000 votes. This is within the one percentage point margin which means an automatic recount under Pennsylvania law, Fox News reported.
Casey has asserted that a winner can only be declared after all the votes are counted — even though several media outlets have declared McCormick the victor.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled those ballots that do not have the needed signatures and dates would not be counted in the final tally.
Democratic officials in Philadelphia, plus nearby Bucks and Montgomery counties, are not abiding by the ruling.
“I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country,” Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia, a Democrat. “People violate laws anytime they want. So, for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention to it. There’s nothing more important than counting votes.”
Michael Whatley, Republican National Committee Chairman, posted his opinion on the matter on X by writing Democrats “want to steal a senate seat.”
“Let’s be clear about what’s happening here: Democrats in Pennsylvania are brazenly trying to break the law by attempting to count illegal ballots. They are doing this because they want to steal a senate seat,” Whatley wrote.
Lee has also urged Casey to concede to McCormick.
“Bob Casey, you’re better than this,” Lee said post X. “It’s time to concede.”
On Nov. 11, Casey posted about the election and how the ballots were still being counted.
“Our Commonwealth ran a free and fair election, and we are still waiting on the final results,” Casey wrote.
“Our election officials will continue counting ballots and ensure that Pennsylvanians’ voices are heard,” he added.
