On Monday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) reacted to Democratic officials in Pennsylvania voting to defy the state’s Supreme Court on counting ballots in the U.S. Senate race in the state by stating that while he doesn’t know the exact details, it’s “unfortunate” that ballots where “it’s quite obvious they were mailed in before Election Day” aren’t being counted, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will ultimately decide and he’s “sure that all Democrats will abide by the law, whatever the state supreme court decides.”
Host Kasie Hunt asked, “[T]here have been some officials in some of the major counties, elected Democratic officials in Philadelphia, Bucks, Centre, and Montgomery Counties who voted this week to defy — and this is The Washington Post editorial board writing, ‘court decisions at the request of lawyers for Democratic Sen. Bob Casey,’ ‘These Democrats’ decisions will almost certainly be overturned on appeal, but the mere attempt to defy judicial rulings is corrosive to democracy and invites similar behavior in future elections.’ And, again, this is a defiance of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that provisional ballots must be signed in two places and mail-in votes must be dated. Do you think that what these Democratic officials are doing in these counties is the right thing to do?”
Boyle answered, “Well, first, I can’t say that I know exactly the specifics of what those boards did this past week. On the issue of so-called naked ballots, I think it’s unfortunate that those are being counted — or not counted in some areas, because it’s quite obvious they were mailed in before Election Day. Nonetheless, though, the ultimate authority here is going to be the state Supreme Court. I believe they are going to rule on this matter in the next week or two. And I am sure that all Democrats will abide by the law, whatever the state supreme court decides.”
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