“Every Republican primary vote must be counted, including the votes of active Pennsylvania military members who risk their lives to defend our constitutional voting rights,” Jess Szymanski, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCormick’s campaign, said in an email. on Monday evening.
Understand the struggle for voting rights in the US
Why is voting rights a problem now? In 2020, as a result of the pandemic, millions of people have embraced voting in person or by mail, especially among Democrats. Spurred on by Donald Trump’s false claims about mail ballots in hopes of undoing the election, the GOP has pursued a host of new voting restrictions.
dr. Oz posted on Twitter on Monday a statement by his campaign manager, Casey Contres, who criticized Mr McCormick’s move and said that while he was a formidable opponent, “he will probably fall short.”
“Unfortunately, McCormick’s legal team is following the Democrats’ playbook, a tactic that could have long-term damaging effects on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth election,” said Mr. Contres. “Dr. Mehmet Oz will continue to respectfully allow vote counting in Pennsylvania and place his trust in the Republican voters who we believe have chosen him as their candidate.”
Mr. McCormick’s argument that undated ballots were still valid was met with bad reception Monday by the Pennsylvania Republican Party. And Pennsylvania’s Republican National Committee and GOP plan to formally intervene against Mr. McCormick in the charges he has filed, two Republicans said Monday.
“We absolutely object to the counting of undated ballot entries,” the party said: on Twitter. “Pennsylvania law and our courts have been very clear that undated ballots should not be counted. We have worked hard to restore confidence in our elections and we call on everyone to respect, enforce and follow the clear law in this area.”
The party’s statement echoed comments made on Fox News Sunday by Ronna McDaniel, the chairman of the Republican National Committee.
“Well,” said Ms. McDaniel, “the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled this year, and the RNC strongly agrees, that ballots should not be counted without a date. I think that’s the law in Pennsylvania. I think that should be followed, and we certainly do not think that no date ballots should be counted, because how do you know when they have come in? I think that’s common sense, and that’s certainly where the RNC and the GOP are. †
Maggie Haberman reporting contributed.