U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan yesterday delayed his decision on a challenge to the re-election of State Senator Jim Brewster. Ranjan said he would issue the ruling today.
Republican Nicole Ziccarelli sued in federal court after the State Supreme Court ruled that election ballots that did not have the required date filled in on their mailing envelopes should be counted, which would give Brewster the election. Ziccarelli lost the race by 69 votes, but Allegheny County election officials counted the ballots in question while Westmoreland County, which is also part of the 45th Senatorial District, did not count them. Ziccarelli sued in Allegheny County Court, then in Commonwealth Court, and finally in the Supreme Court, claiming that the ballots should not be counted.
The issue came to a boil in the Senate last week, when Republicans refused to swear in Brewster despite the election having been certified by the state. That led to the ejection of the presiding officer of the Senate, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, who loudly objected and was removed by the leadership.
On Indiana In the Morning on WCCS last week, Senator Joe Pittman said the Supreme Court improperly ruled that the word “shall,” does not mean “must,” when it says the date “shall be” written on the mailing envelope.
For now, the 45th District seat remains open pending Ranjan’s ruling, and perhaps subsequent appeals.
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