Recount begins in PA Senate race with Bucks County vowing to count ballots Supreme Court said were inadmissible

A recount for the tight US Senate race in Pennsylvania between Democrat incumbent Bob Casey and GOP challenger Dave McCormick starts on Monday, all the while several Democrat-controlled areas are dismissing a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling and are vowing to count illegal ballots.

Because of the tight margin of victory that McCormick has over Casey in the Keystone State, less than 0.5 percent of the vote, an automatic recount has been triggered to start on Monday, per WGAL. Amid the tight race, multiple Democrat-controlled County election boards have decided to thwart a state Supreme Court ruling that ordered mail-in ballots without dates or improper signatures on them to not be counted.

Officials in Bucks County, Centre, as well as Montgomery are choosing to ignore the decision, per Fox News, with even Democratic Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia openly saying that they are counting the ballots, "I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country." She and other Democrats voted to count the illegitimate ballots, and the decision has been appealed by McCormick.

"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,” Ellis-Marseglia added at the time.

The GOP has sued multiple counties in the state for taking the steps to count the inadmissible mail-in ballots, and because mail-ins swung to Casey at a greater margin than McCormick, the Democrat incumbent could make some gain on the 17,430 ballot gap there is between him and the GOP challenger.

As of Monday morning, McCormick had 3,395,784 or 48.8 percent of the vote and Casey had 3,378,354 or 46.8 percent of the vote with the 17,430 vote gap, per WAGL. The recount starts Monday, November 18 and is expected to be finished up by noon on Tuesday, Nov. 26. Counties must then report to the Pennsylvania Secretary of State by 12 pm on Wednesday, Nov. 27. The recount will cost taxpayers $1 million.