Former US President Donald Trump has once again stepped into electoral controversy and has pushed Dr Mehmet Oz to prematurely declare victory in Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate race. As of Tuesday, the elections were too close to call.

Reviving his “rigged elections” claims, Trump wrote on TruthSocial, “Dr. Oz should declare victory. It makes it much harder for them to cheat with the ballots that they ‘just happened to find.'”

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Celebrity surgeon Oz is closely tied with his Republican opponent Dave McCormick. As of Tuesday, Mehmet Oz secured 31.3% of the votes while David McCormick closed in with 31.1%, according to the live polling.

According to Pennsylvania’s state electoral law, if two candidates have a margin that is lower than 0.5%, a recount needs to be triggered to accurately determine the choice of the voters. With just a few hundred votes separating Oz and McCormick, the result may not be clear for several days.

Such premature electoral declarations have previously not played in Trump’s favour. In the 2020 general elections, Joe Biden and Trump were in a tight race in Pennsylvania, with mail-in ballots yet to be counted.

Trump prematurely announced that he had won Pennsylvania’s electoral college. However, Trump’s thin lead diminished as the remaining ballots were counted. The Republican eventually lost Pennsylvania– and by extension the presidential elections.

Also Read: Trump tries to fend off Mehmet Oz challenger in Pennsylvania Senate race

Former President Trump announced his endorsement for Oz last month, with some of his fans saying McCormick should have received the support. Trump’s initial endorsement for the Pennsylvania Senate race was for Sean Parnell, however, he later dropped out.

Pennsylvania’s Republicans made a definitive choice for the governor nominee on Tuesday and picked Doug Mastriano, a far-right candidate who previously served in the US armed forces.