As a public official, including serving Pennsylvania for three terms in the United States Senate, my top priority and only consideration has been what is best for the Commonwealth.
Right now, counties across Pennsylvania are still tabulating the results of our November election for the first time. As Pennsylvanians wait to learn the final result of this very close Senate election, there has been extensive commentary about why I have not yet conceded.
The answer is simple: Pennsylvanians deserve to have their voices heard, and the worth of someone's vote is not determined by how long it takes to be counted. When a Pennsylvanian takes the time to cast a legal vote, often waiting in long lines and taking time away from their work and family, they deserve to have their vote counted, whether it is the first ballot counted or the last.
The current margin of this race is a quarter of one percent, and it will take time to determine the final result. The slim margin has drawn more attention to this process than in recent elections, but the process itself is not unusual. Our dedicated county election officials are moving through the same democratic process they undertake after every single election, whether the margin is slim or large. Unlike in past elections, the votes in this election could determine the outcome.
There are thousands of eligible voters who cast their ballot but made small errors that would have disenfranchised them if they weren't able to correct them by their county's deadline. Most counties allow up to a week for voters to correct these minor errors in a process known as curing ballots. In one case in Allegheny County, a 100-year-old woman who had voted in every election since she had become eligible to vote was able to fix an error on her ballot after Election Day and make sure her vote was counted.
Still, other voters across the Commonwealth went out to vote and did everything right, but because of small mistakes and understandable human error – on the part of the voter or due to election officials – their votes have to move through a lengthier process.
While this process has been lengthy and will still take time, I have remained committed to one clear goal: Letting the voices of Pennsylvanians be heard and standing up against efforts to silence and disenfranchise voters in the Commonwealth.
This principle stands in stark opposition to Washington Republicans, who have interrupted this process and filed numerous lawsuits to disenfranchise thousands of voters. Attorneys representing my opponent in this race and national Republicans have argued to disqualify ballots where the voter did everything right, but an election official forgot to counter-sign the ballot envelope.
Poll workers and election officials work very hard, but they are human – and voters should not be penalized for any mistakes they make.
This close race has also put a spotlight on undated mail ballots, as my opponent and his allies have filed an appeal with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to disqualify mail ballots where a voter has accidentally written the date wrong or didn't write a date at all.
Undated mail ballots have long been at issue in Pennsylvania's elections. Gov. Wolf's administration advocated to have these ballots count, as has Secretary of State Al Schmidt, and even my opponent himself. The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has ruled twice in 2024 alone that throwing out these ballots violates Pennsylvania's constitution.
At its core, this is a debate about the constitutionality of disenfranchising thousands of voters due to a requirement that has no bearing on a voters' eligibility and has no impact in deterring fraud. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has been asked to take up this issue and come to a resolution for a question that has been at issue long before the 2024 election, and which will reverberate far beyond this race.
Unfortunately, this democratic process has been subject to repeated right-wing misinformation and allegations of foul play. I urge the people of Pennsylvania and across the nation to have patience and allow this constitutional process to play out. We cannot set the dangerous precedent that the desire of a political party or election forecasters to declare a race as settled should overrule the voices of the voters who participated in the election – for whom the results have real consequences in their daily lives – or the election officials who work through a painstaking process to tabulate the votes.
I served the people for ten years as Auditor General and State Treasurer in the Finance Building in Harrisburg. The following is inscribed on that building: "All public service is a trust, given in faith and accepted in honor."
I want to make sure that trust and faith is upheld. Pennsylvanians deserve to trust that when they cast a vote legally, it is counted. They deserve to trust they will not be disenfranchised due to mistakes made by poll workers or election officials. They deserve to trust that expediency will never be valued more than democracy.
Regardless of the final result, I am committed to ensuring Pennsylvanians' voices are heard.
With gratitude,
Bob Casey
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