David McCormick files lawsuit over counting mail ballots in Pennsylvania Senate race

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania — The campaign of David McCormick, who is in a neck-and-neck Republican primary contest for the U.S. Senate against celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, sued in a Pennsylvania court Monday to try to ensure counties obey a brand-new federal appeals court decision that could help him make up ground.

McCormick's lawsuit, filed after hours, asks the state's Commonwealth Court to require counties to promptly count mail-in ballots that lack a required handwritten date on the return envelope. It is the first — but likely not the last — lawsuit in the contest between Oz and McCormick, a former hedge fund CEO.

"These ballots were indisputably submitted on time — they were date-stamped upon receipt — and no fraud or irregularity has been alleged. The Boards' only basis for disenfranchising these voters is a technical error that is immaterial under both state and federal law," the lawsuit said.