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Oz's lead over McCormick shrinks to less than 1,000 votes as automatic recount nears
Caption: Allegheny County elections workers review provisional ballots with authorized representatives from Dave McCormick and Dr. Mehmet Oz's campaigns, Monday, May 23, 2022, on the North Side. (photo credit: Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette)
(Link) https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2022/05/23/mehmet-oz-dave-mccormick-votes-guaranteeing-automatic-recount-in-gop-senate-race/stories/202205230084
by JULIAN ROUTH
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette May 23, 2022
Mehmet Oz’s lead in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate primary shrunk to under 1,000 votes on Monday as Allegheny and other Pennsylvania counties tallied provisional ballots and prepared for the all-but-certain prospect of an automatic recount.
In one of the most closely watched Senate primaries in the country, Mr. Oz led former hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick by 992 votes — of more than 1.34 million cast in the race — as of late Monday evening, almost a week removed from the primary election.
With the margin still so tight and both campaigns jockeying for any vote they can get before a likely recount, Mr. McCormick’s campaign asked the Commonwealth Court, in legal paperwork filed late Monday evening, to require Pennsylvania’s 67 counties to tally mail-in ballots that are missing a handwritten date on the return envelope.
There’s no official estimate of how many of these undated ballots exist across the state, but in Allegheny County, the county with the most registered Republicans in Pennsylvania, there are 42 GOP ballots that meet this criteria, election officials said.
In one of the most closely watched Senate primaries in the country, Mr. Oz led former hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick by 992 votes — of more than 1.34 million cast in the race — as of late Monday evening, almost a week removed from the primary election.
With the margin still so tight and both campaigns jockeying for any vote they can get before a likely recount, Mr. McCormick’s campaign asked the Commonwealth Court, in legal paperwork filed late Monday evening, to require Pennsylvania’s 67 counties to tally mail-in ballots that are missing a handwritten date on the return envelope.
There’s no official estimate of how many of these undated ballots exist across the state, but in Allegheny County, the county with the most registered Republicans in Pennsylvania, there are 42 GOP ballots that meet this criteria, election officials said.
- more at link -
The entire count could be completed by as early as Tuesday when the military and civilian overseas absentee ballots will be opened and counted. However there's no way to determine how many are Republican votes until the ballots are opened and counted. In any case, the absentee ballots won't be enough to give a clear lead to either candidate. The state will most likely initiate an automatic recount which could take another two weeks.
3 replies
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as they fight over the validity of, can you guess?
"Mail-in" ballots! 
In this corner, McCormick -
McCormick sues to boost Pa. mail-in votes in tight Senate GOP primary
May 23, 2022, 9:17 PM EDT / Updated May 23, 2022, 10:58 PM EDT
By Dareh Gregorian
Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick filed a lawsuit Monday in a bid to ensure certain mail-in ballots aren't disqualified from last week's Pennsylvania primary, in which his fight against Mehmet Oz remains too close to call. McCormick, in papers filed in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, said a number of county boards of election are refusing to count ballots that arrived in time for the primary but were missing handwritten dates on the envelopes.
"These ballots were indisputably submitted on time—they were date-stamped upon receipt—and no fraud or irregularity has been alleged," the suit says, adding that boards are refusing to count them because of the technicality.
While state law says voters using absentee ballots have to "fill out, date and sign" the exterior mailing envelopes, the suit notes that the state Supreme Court has previously ruled in favor of counting such ballots and that a federal appeals court ruled Friday in a different state race that rejecting ballots on a slight technicality is against federal law.
"Both the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit have held that mail-in ballots should not be disqualified simply because the voters failed to hand write a date on the exterior mailing envelope of their ballots. Because all ballots are time stamped by the County Boards of Elections on receipt, a voter’s handwritten date is meaningless," Chuck Cooper, McCormick's chief legal counsel, said in a statement.
(snip)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/mccormick-files-lawsuit-boost-pa-mail-votes-tight-senate-gop-primary-rcna30206
May 23, 2022, 9:17 PM EDT / Updated May 23, 2022, 10:58 PM EDT
By Dareh Gregorian
Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick filed a lawsuit Monday in a bid to ensure certain mail-in ballots aren't disqualified from last week's Pennsylvania primary, in which his fight against Mehmet Oz remains too close to call. McCormick, in papers filed in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, said a number of county boards of election are refusing to count ballots that arrived in time for the primary but were missing handwritten dates on the envelopes.
"These ballots were indisputably submitted on time—they were date-stamped upon receipt—and no fraud or irregularity has been alleged," the suit says, adding that boards are refusing to count them because of the technicality.
While state law says voters using absentee ballots have to "fill out, date and sign" the exterior mailing envelopes, the suit notes that the state Supreme Court has previously ruled in favor of counting such ballots and that a federal appeals court ruled Friday in a different state race that rejecting ballots on a slight technicality is against federal law.
"Both the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit have held that mail-in ballots should not be disqualified simply because the voters failed to hand write a date on the exterior mailing envelope of their ballots. Because all ballots are time stamped by the County Boards of Elections on receipt, a voter’s handwritten date is meaningless," Chuck Cooper, McCormick's chief legal counsel, said in a statement.
(snip)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/mccormick-files-lawsuit-boost-pa-mail-votes-tight-senate-gop-primary-rcna30206
And in the other corner, Oz -
GOP takes Oz’s side in Pa. Senate race vote-counting lawsuit
By MARC LEVY 36 minutes ago
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The national Republican Party is taking the side of celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s neck-and-neck GOP primary contest for U.S. Senate and opposing a lawsuit that could help former hedge fund CEO David McCormick close the gap in votes. McCormick’s lawsuit was filed late Monday, less than 24 hours before Tuesday’s deadline for counties to report their unofficial results to the state.
In it, McCormick asks the state Commonwealth Court to require counties to obey a brand-new federal appeals court decision and promptly count mail-in ballots that lack a required handwritten date on the return envelope. Oz, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has pressed counties not to count the ballots and the Republican National Committee said it would go to court to oppose McCormick.
In a statement, the RNC’s chief counsel, Matt Raymer, said “election laws are meant to be followed, and changing the rules when ballots are already being counted harms the integrity of our elections. ”McCormick’s lawsuit is the first — but likely not the last — lawsuit in the contest between Oz and McCormick.Oz led McCormick by 992 votes, or 0.07 percentage points, out of 1,341,037 ballots reported by the state as of Tuesday morning.
The race is close enough to trigger Pennsylvania’s automatic recount law, with the separation between the candidates inside the law’s 0.5% margin. The Associated Press will not declare a winner in the race until the likely recount is complete. That could take until June 8. It’s not clear how many mail-in ballots that lack a handwritten date have been received by counties. Although he trails the vote count, McCormick has been doing better than Oz among mail-in ballots.
(snip)
https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-entertainment-donald-trump-pennsylvania-4d35458f5ff4375ab532e90842e43716
By MARC LEVY 36 minutes ago
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The national Republican Party is taking the side of celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s neck-and-neck GOP primary contest for U.S. Senate and opposing a lawsuit that could help former hedge fund CEO David McCormick close the gap in votes. McCormick’s lawsuit was filed late Monday, less than 24 hours before Tuesday’s deadline for counties to report their unofficial results to the state.
In it, McCormick asks the state Commonwealth Court to require counties to obey a brand-new federal appeals court decision and promptly count mail-in ballots that lack a required handwritten date on the return envelope. Oz, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has pressed counties not to count the ballots and the Republican National Committee said it would go to court to oppose McCormick.
In a statement, the RNC’s chief counsel, Matt Raymer, said “election laws are meant to be followed, and changing the rules when ballots are already being counted harms the integrity of our elections. ”McCormick’s lawsuit is the first — but likely not the last — lawsuit in the contest between Oz and McCormick.Oz led McCormick by 992 votes, or 0.07 percentage points, out of 1,341,037 ballots reported by the state as of Tuesday morning.
The race is close enough to trigger Pennsylvania’s automatic recount law, with the separation between the candidates inside the law’s 0.5% margin. The Associated Press will not declare a winner in the race until the likely recount is complete. That could take until June 8. It’s not clear how many mail-in ballots that lack a handwritten date have been received by counties. Although he trails the vote count, McCormick has been doing better than Oz among mail-in ballots.
(snip)
https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-entertainment-donald-trump-pennsylvania-4d35458f5ff4375ab532e90842e43716
Oz, who was ahead before the recount, will win albeit by less than 1000 votes.
Recount has to be completed by Jun 8th - just in time for the start of the Jan 6th public hearings. 
