Centre County judge tosses election challenge brought by Republicans over ballot-counting
Centre County’s top judge on Friday threw out a Republican challenge to a single mail-in ballot, finding the appeal was brought too late to be considered.
Centre County President Judge Jonathan Grine’s decision marked the third time this election cycle Republicans were unsuccessful in bringing an election challenge in Centre County. The first of the three challenges was also dismissed as untimely.
It was not immediately known if attorneys for Republican Sen.-elect Dave McCormick, as well as the state and national Republican parties, plan to appeal. A message was not immediately returned Friday afternoon.
Centre County Republican Committee Chair Michelle Schellberg told the Centre Daily Times they are “exploring all available options, including appeals, to ensure that the voices of the people are hear and that due process is upheld.”
“We are disappointed by the court’s decision to dismiss the case based on a procedural technicality rather than its merits. The two-day filing rule should not serve as a barrier to addressing critical issues that affect our elections,” Schellberg said in a statement. “While this outcome is frustrating, it does not deter us from continuing to advocate for what is right.”
Their challenge asked Grine not to allow Centre County’s board of elections to count three irregular mail-in ballots, arguing it would violate recent rulings from the state Supreme Court.
One was misdated, a second had too many characters and the third used the European style of writing dates — day, month and year. Attorney Thomas Breth withdrew challenges to the first two ballots at a hearing Friday.
But Grine wrote he was unable to consider the merits of the appeal.
Centre County’s elections board — made up of the county’s three commissioners, two Democrats and one Republican — voted at a public meeting Nov. 7 to accept the three ballots.
Centre County Republican Committee Chair Michelle Schellberg challenged the decision at the time and testified Friday that the vote to accept the ballots was taken Nov. 7.
State law requires challenges to be brought within two business days, meaning Republicans had to file their appeal by Tuesday. It was not filed until Thursday.
“No evidence was presented to explain Petitioners’ lack of due diligence to file the appeal within the statutory time frame,” Grine wrote in his ruling. “No evidence was presented of any fraud or breakdown in the administrative process of the court or the election board.”
Centre County Democratic Committee Chair Margie Swoboda commended Grine for his decision but was critical of McCormick and his fellow Republicans.
She said they appear “committed to disenfranchising our voters.”
“They are disrupting the vote count in our county,” Swoboda said. “As the chairwoman of the Centre County Dems, we are committed to protecting our voters and their rights to vote in a free and fair election.”
A message left with Centre County solicitor Betsy Dupuis was not immediately returned Friday.
“I think this election board did a hell of job,” she said during the hearing. “... This board did exactly what it needed to do.”
The GOP filed similar challenges against Democratic-majority election boards in Montgomery, Philadelphia and Bucks counties.
Democrats cast more mail-in ballots than Republicans and have supported counting ballots that fail what they view as meaningless clerical requirements. After a GOP challenge was tossed in similar fashion in May after the primary election, Swoboda said “the fact that a date was causing so much anxiety is trivial.”
The Associated Press called the U.S. Senate race for McCormick last week, concluding not enough ballots remained to be counted in areas three-term incumbent Democrat Sen. Bob Casey was winning for him to take the lead. Casey has not conceded.
McCormick led by about 23,800 votes as of Friday, inside the 0.5% margin threshold to trigger an automatic statewide recount under Pennsylvania law. In Centre County, unofficial results show Casey with a more than 2,300-vote lead over McCormick.
Counties must complete the recount by noon Nov. 26. Results are to be published Nov. 27. The Pennsylvania Department of State estimated the recount will cost more than $1 million in taxpayer money.
In each of the previous four times a recount was carried out, the initial results of the election were affirmed.
This story was originally published November 15, 2024 at 2:40 PM.