Altoona Times

Pennsylvania House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler and incoming House Republican Leader Jesse Topper have expressed their approval of a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision. The court ruled in the case of Republican National Committee v. All 67 County Boards of Elections that counties should not count mail-in and absentee ballots that do not comply with the Pennsylvania Election Code.

In a joint statement, Cutler and Topper said, "We applaud the decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to order counties to not count mail-in and absentee ballots that fail to comply with the Pennsylvania Election Code. This ruling not only upholds the rule of law but is also in line with the clear and plain reading of the Election Code and several past court decisions upholding the validity of the dating requirement for mail-in and absentee ballots."

They emphasized that "a law is not confusing or inconsistent merely because people do not like it. The Pennsylvania Election Code unambiguously states that mail-in and absentee ballots must be correctly dated to be valid. Ballots not complying with the Election Code should not be counted."

Cutler and Topper concluded by stating, "Given this decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, it is clear Sen. Bob Casey should concede the election to Sen.-elect Dave McCormick and save Pennsylvania counties and taxpayers the time and expense of a recount and the continued, unwarranted questions about the validity of the election."

The media contact for this announcement is Jason Gottesman, who can be reached at 717-512-0620 or jgottesman@pahousegop.com.