It’s Not Over Yet: ACLJ Issues Legal Briefing on the Legal Battles over Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate Seat as Local Election Officials Continue to Count Illegal Ballots

The 2024 general election is not over. A critical U.S. Senate seat is up for grabs, but the Left just won’t let go, no matter what rules must be bent or broken to accomplish its agenda. Today we’re offering you a legal briefing on the current lawfare battleground: one of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seats.

The ACLJ has directly engaged the Left’s lawfare of election lawsuits. We represented the Colorado Republican Party and won a major victory in one of the biggest election and constitutional cases that’s gone to the Supreme Court – where the Left did its best to block Coloradans from voting for the candidate of their choice. We also represented numerous state Republican Parties across the country, including Virginia, Kansas, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Wyoming, in similar challenges in their states, including state and federal courts.

In addition, we represented the Green Party of Nevada when the establishment Left was forcing their presidential candidate off the ballot (in the name of democracy, of course). In fact, we engaged in election lawfare cases in 2016 and even as far back as the pivotal case of Bush v. Gore.

Now we’re watching Pennsylvania. That’s where the Left, in brazen defiance of Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court, just keeps counting illegal ballots in the race between David McCormick and three-term incumbent Senator Bob Casey for a seat in the U.S. Senate. In the aftermath of President Trump’s historic landslide victory and the epic red wave, and where the Republicans kept the majority of the U.S. House but also retook control of the U.S. Senate, the Left refuses to concede – brazenly defying Pennsylvania’s highest court.

Specifically, in open rebellion against the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and after the election had already concluded, some county election boards decided to keep counting mail-in ballots that, on their face, fail to comply with clear and simple statutory requirements. Meanwhile, McCormick’s lead continues to shrink – down as low as 16,000 votes after the race had been called nearly two weeks ago.

Before the election, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued rulings mandating compliance with certain election laws, including specific prohibitions on the counting of undated mail-in ballots and ordering that county boards of elections and Pennsylvania courts shall enforce the General Assembly’s mandatory date requirement for mail-in ballots in the 2024 general election. In the Baxter case, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court paused a lower court’s decision to strike down the statute’s date requirement.

While still litigating other existing lawsuits, on November 14, 2024, McCormick, the Republican National Committee, and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania (the “Republicans”) filed an application for extraordinary relief in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. On November 18, 2024, in a 4-3 decision, the court granted the application and ordered, in no uncertain terms, that all counties:

including the Boards of Elections in Bucks County, Montgomery County, and Philadelphia County, SHALL COMPLY with the prior rulings of this Court 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.

The Republicans also filed at least a dozen lawsuits in Pennsylvania state courts in at least four counties. The ACLJ has put together a legal briefing for you to summarize what’s on the table in these cases and where they are in the legal process. With the state’s highest court so recently reemphasizing the “SHALL” in the election law requirements, one would think lower courts would get in line. But that’s just not the world we live in today. The ACLJ continues to keep an eye on these cases, and if there are appeals, we’re prepared to put our election law experience to work and do our part to weigh in with amicus briefs.

Preservation of the constitutional republic requires vigilance. The freedom to vote for the candidates of your choice is paramount. But it takes more than just that. A victory is neither permanent nor immune from assault. Victory must be maintained and defended.

Stand with us as we stand with the Constitution. Download our Pennsylvania legal briefing on the lawfare for a U.S. Senate seat. Share it. Join us in the ongoing fight to protect our Constitution and the will of American voters.