Pennsylvania Philadelphia County Provisional Ballot Deficiencies Challenge

Lawsuit filed by Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, David McCormick, the Republican National Committee and Republican Party of Pennsylvania against the Philadelphia County Board of Elections challenging the board’s decision to count 966 provisional ballots with certain errors or deficiencies in the November 2024 general election. Under the state’s election law, a voter and certain election officials, the judge of elections and a minority inspector, must sign a provisional ballot in order for it to be counted. Provisional voters must also complete an affidavit and check mark their reason for casting a provisional ballot. The plaintiffs allege that the board counted 663 ballots missing signatures from at least one election official, 227 ballots without a check mark and 50 ballots with voter affidavits containing missing or incorrect information. They argue that by counting these ballots, the board violated election laws that have been upheld by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. They also argue the board’s decision to count provisional ballots with these deficiencies, while other county board of elections rejected them, has led to the unequal treatment of voters based solely on which county they voted in, violating the U.S. and Pennsylvania Constitutions. The plaintiffs ask the court to reverse the county board of election’s decision to count these ballots.

RESULT: The plaintiffs filed their petition on Nov. 17, 2024. On Nov. 19, the court denied McCormick’s petition, meaning the contested provisional ballots will be counted.

Last updated: November 19, 2024 4:46 pm EST