Supreme Court order could affect Pennsylvania Senate count

By MARC LEVY and MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court is temporarily blocking the counting of some mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania. The order Tuesday could affect the tight Republican Senate primary between former hedge fund CEO David McCormick and celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz. The order from Justice Samuel Alito pauses a lower-court ruling in a lawsuit over a disputed 2021 local court election that would have allowed the counting of mail-in ballots that lack a handwritten date. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia had ruled that the state election law’s requirement of a date next to the voter’s signature on the outside of return envelopes was “immaterial” and no reason to throw out such ballots.