Ballot counting problems in swing state Senate races drag on as political parties fight for seats

While the 2024 presidential election had relatively few ballot issues compared to 2000 and 2020, there are some ongoing ballot problems in a couple of Senate races in swing states being focused on by the Republican Party.

So-called "blue wall" states Pennsylvania and Wisconsin both broke for President-elect Donald Trump in the presidential election, but Republicans and Democrats are still fighting over the Senate seats in both states. While each party has been projected to win one of the Senate seats, there are discrepancies in ballot counting in both elections that could alter the outcome.

Pennsylvania

In the race for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat, Republican candidate Dave McCormick was projected as the winner by The Associated Press two days after Election Day. The Pennsylvania Department of State reported that Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey has received 3,350,972 (48.5%) votes and McCormick got 3,380,310 (48.93%).

Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt (R) on Wednesday announced that a recount was being conducted of the Senate race after the results of the race fell within the 0.5% threshold that automatically triggers the recount.

Schmidt said the counties must begin the recount by Nov. 20 and the process must be completed by noon on Nov. 26, according to NBC News. The results must then be reported by Nov. 27, and will be published after confirmation. The process is expected to cost the commonwealth more than $1 million.

The recount comes as Casey declines to concede the race and has hired Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias to fight for an election win. McCormick has declared victory, however, and traveled to Washington, D.C., for new Senate orientation last week.

Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee has filed two lawsuits to stop the counting of "illegal" ballots. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled before the election that mail-in ballots that don't have proper dates or signatures would not be included in the official results. However, according to Fox News, officials in Bucks County and Montgomery County have allegedly ignored the order.

"I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country," Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia (D) said during a county commission meeting on Thursday. 

"People violate laws anytime they want. So, for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention. There’s nothing more important than counting votes," she added, failing to distinguish between legal votes and illegal votes.

Republicans have pushed back on counties engaged in “illegal” ballot counting.

"Insurmountable lead"

“Dave McCormick won this election and is already participating in Senate orientation meetings. Meanwhile, Democrat officials and scam lawyers are aiding and abetting Bob Casey’s shameful attempts to steal back a Senate seat which he lost decisively,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement on Thursday.

“The RNC is filing a motion in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to ensure that Pennsylvania’s democratic process is not undermined by the inclusion of illegal ballots in the final vote count. Pennsylvanians are ready to move forward with Dave McCormick representing them in the Senate as Bob Casey torches whatever legacy he had with these anti-democratic schemes.”

The Pennsylvania GOP said Thursday that multiple counties are ignoring the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s rulings.

“While Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick currently holds an insurmountable lead of nearly 30,000 votes over his Democrat opponent Bob Casey, numerous County Boards of Elections including Philadelphia, Bucks, Centre and potentially others took an impromptu vote to count undated or improperly dated mail-in ballots, in bold defiance of Pennsylvania law, and two State Supreme Court orders,” the state party said.

“Last month, the State Supreme Court ordered that county boards of elections and Pennsylvania courts must enforce the General Assembly’s mandatory date requirement for mail ballots in the 2024 General Election. Less than two weeks ago — the Court again ordered that the date requirement ‘shall … be applied to the November 5, 2024 General Election,’ the group continued.

“In his concurrence, Justice Donohue sharply criticized the continuing last-minute efforts of courts and litigants to invalidate the date requirement for the 2024 General Election. In it’s [sic] King’s Bench Application, the PA GOP is asking the State Supreme Court to once again reaffirm “that the date requirement applies to the 2024 General Election.”

Wisconsin

At the same time that the GOP is going to court in Pennsylvania, there are also concerns about ballot counting in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Senate race was called by The Associated Press for incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin the day after Election Day. The news wire’s vote tallies have Baldwin with about 29,000 more votes than her opponent, Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde.

On Tuesday, Hovde posted a video on X about overnight ballot dumps after Election Day.

“I was shocked by what unfolded on Election Night,” Hovde said. “At 1 a.m., I was receiving calls of congratulations and, based on the models, it appeared I would win the Senate race. Then, at 4 a.m., Milwaukee reported approximately 108,000 absentee ballots with Senator Baldwin receiving nearly 90 percent of those ballots. Statistically, this outcome seems improbable, as it didn’t match the patterns from same-day voting in Milwaukee, where I had received 22 percent of the votes."

“Since last Wednesday, numerous parties reached out to me about voting inconsistencies such as certain precincts in Milwaukee having turnout of 150 percent of registered voters, and in some cases, over 200 percent,” Hovde explained, later adding that “this was accomplished by same-day voter registration that surged by almost 50 percent on a rainy day.”

He said that a lack of voter roll maintenance and Democrats supporting third-party candidates in the Senate race to draw votes away from him are some of the election integrity issues he has been concerned about.

After all the necessary election information is available and he is able to consider his options, then Hovde said he will determine how to move forward.

Election integrity in Trump administration

While Trump has been concerned about election integrity throughout the election cycle, the issue will likely continue into his presidency. With Republicans heading up the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives next year, election integrity legislation such as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act could get passed. The SAVE Act would amend the 1993 National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) to make states require documentation of a person's citizenship before registering to vote in federal elections

Additionally, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., before being nominated attorney general and resigning from Congress, introduced an election integrity bill on Tuesday that would make it a felony for non-citizens to cast ballots.