Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has agreed with the state’s Supreme Court that ruled certain mail-in ballots shouldn’t be counted.
Shapiro, the runner up for the spot as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate on the Democratic ticket, spoke out about the controversy plaguing the Keystone State.
Pennsylvania’s high court reaffirmed its prior decision in a 4–3 ruling Monday that ballots with incorrect dates or undated can’t be counted, Fox News reported.
The Boards of Elections in Bucks County, Montgomery County, and Philadelphia County were specifically named in the ruling. The court said they “SHALL COMPLY with the prior rulings of this Court in which we have clarified” for mail-in and absentee ballots.
The previous ruling was made Nov. 1.
Shapiro, who was the state’s attorney general before becoming governor, said the rule of law must be obeyed.
“Any insinuation that our laws can be ignored or do not matter is irresponsible and does damage to faith in our electoral process,”Shapiro said. “The rule of law matters in this Commonwealth, and as I have always said, it is critical for counties and officials in both parties to respect it with both their rhetoric and their actions.”
Shapiro added he would “continue working to protect our democracy and the votes of all eligible Pennsylvanians.”
“I expect all county election officials to adhere to this ruling,” the governor said.
Election boards in places like Philadelphia, Bucks County, Montgomery County, and Centre County — all Democratic-led boards — bucked the ruling and voted to include those ballots in the recount.
“People violate laws any time they want,” Democratic Bucks County commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia said last week, the IJR previously reported. “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.”
Officials in the Republican Party have filed lawsuits regarding the recount in light of the Senate race where challenger David McCormick, a Republican, narrowly defeated incumbent Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat.
McCormick topped Casey by approximately 17,000 votes in the state, or within the 0.5% margin of error.
This triggered an automatic recount under Pennsylvania law since the count was so close.
Shapiro has been criticized by the Republican National Committee for not speaking out sooner.
“Heartening to see. Once Democrats came to the conclusion that even ignoring the Pennsylvania Supreme Court can’t scrape up enough ballots to win…,” RNC Chair Michael Whatley wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Governor Shapiro suddenly discovers that he stands with the rule of law. Better late than never.”
Chris LaCivita, a Trump campaign official, said jail time is warranted for those Pennsylvania elections officials who count incorrect mail-in ballots.
“They will go to jail,” he posted Sunday evening on X. “Count on it.”
