On Wednesday, an angry, standing-room-only crowd called for the resignation of Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia, who made national headlines last week when she defiantly said she would ignore election law and count improperly cast ballots. The public also asked for the resignation of Democrat Commissioner Robert Harvie Jr., who seconded her motion and voted to pass the plan.
Multiple Democrat-led Pennsylvania counties voted to count improper votes in defiance of Pennsylvania law. But Ellis-Marseglia’s comments, made while deciding which provisional votes to count, crystallized the mindset of county election officials ignoring the law. Since then the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has reiterated its guidance not to count improperly cast ballots.
“Precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country, and people violate laws anytime they want,” Ellis-Marseglia said last week. “So for me, if I violate this law, it is because I want a court to pay attention to it, and there is nothing more important than counting votes and I’ll take it all the way.”
During Wednesday’s regular commissioner meeting, she apologized.
“Last Thursday when I spoke … the passion in my heart got the best of me, and I apologize again for that,” Ellis-Marseglia said. “I don’t think I am alone in the frustrations I had that day. Many counties get confused and confounded by the Supreme Court rules because they have changed at different times. I looked forward to the court taking a stand on this.”
But there was already plenty of information for her clarity. The issue of counting mail ballots that are improperly dated or fully undated has been litigated in Pennsylvania court for several years. Pennsylvania law says such ballots shall not be counted. Before the election, the state Supreme Court ordered counties not to count such ballots. The Bucks County solicitor advised commissioners not to count those ballots. Republican commissioner Gene DiGirolamo voted against counting improper ballots but was outvoted on the three-member board.
Ellis-Marseglia said her comments were taken “out of context” and “clipped,” implying that people just didn’t understand what she meant. But a complete recording of her comments on the county website shows her words were perfectly understood.
“I have literally been contacted by hundreds of people, and I’m being honest with you: all of them involved horrible, horrible expletives,” Ellis-Marseglia said.
The Federalist used professional language when reaching out to Ellis-Marseglia for comment. She did not respond.
She said her life has been threatened, as well as members of her family and county workers.
“I made a mistake, and because I am an elected official, I am held to a far higher standard than everybody else. So to the citizens I serve, I apologize, and I will continue to work hard for you and endeavor to … not make such a mistake again. I will also clarify one more thing: When I unartfully spoke and used the word precedent when I was talking about provisional ballots, I was referring to the United States Supreme Court and the precedent that has been lost on many issues, including Roe v. Wade.”
At this remark, the audience groaned, booed, and offered much eye-rolling. She whacked her gavel to shut them up.
“Unfortunately, I took my frustration out on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, many of whom are friends of mine and who I respect and whose decisions are complicated, difficult, and important. … I am a small fish in this big pond. I do not have a megaphone on Twitter or CNN. Or I am not a secretary of state. I don’t run a presidential campaign. This is the only opportunity I have had to set the record straight. … Today is the only chance I have to stop the snowballing. And I don’t really think I could apologize anymore, but I am truthfully sorry.”
A member of the audience later quipped that it was more likely she was sorry she was caught by the public.
It is not easy for people to attend meetings during regular working hours, yet around 200 members of the public attended the 10:30 a.m. meeting to voice their displeasure and ask for the resignations of Ellis-Marseglia and Harvie. Some called for charges of contempt of court or other charges for ignoring the law.
During public comment, speakers had three minutes to make their point, then their microphone was cut off.
One speaker, an elected judge of elections, said he has served for more than 25 elections.
“Each time I serve, I take an oath to administer the election in accordance with Pennsylvania law. You take a similar oath to perform your duties as commissioners, according to the law. Throughout this election cycle, you’ve done a poor job, as demonstrated by the many comments here today. This past week, you violated your oaths of office knowingly and willfully and against the advice of counsel, and allowed for the counting of illegal ballots,” the judge of elections said.
“If as a judge, I allowed ineligible voters to cast votes at the polls on Election Day, I’d be promptly removed from office and prosecuted by the district attorney. The two of you make a mockery of our election process and take away the faith that people have in the process. You two should be removed from office and you should be prosecuted. Do the county a favor and resign.”
The other speakers had similar messages, adding that the commissioners, who have donated to Sen. Bob Casey and were endorsed by him, are partisan, and there is no place for a partisan mindset when they are serving on the board of elections.
At the end of public comments, it appeared that Harvie was going to make a comment, but the audience was not silent, and he abruptly adjourned the meeting. Harvie, however, issued a statement after the state Supreme Court ruled the votes he intended to count should not be counted.
He complained about the “rhetoric and innuendo,” and “baseless claims that members of the board were attempting to sway the outcome of an election by choosing to count certain mail-in and provisional ballots. These claims are unequivocally nonsense.”
“In the case of undated and misdated mail-in ballots cast in this election, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has told us today that those votes cast by registered Bucks County voters shall not be counted for the purposes of the Nov. 5, 2024, General Election. This is precisely the clarity we were seeking from the courts in this matter. The Board of Elections will of course comply with the order of the court.”
Despite Harvie’s feigned innocence and uncertainty, he did not need to wait for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to repeat itself. The court, the law, and the county solicitor all clearly indicated that improperly dated ballots should not be counted.
This and other local election dramas in Pennsylvania are part of Democrats’ post-election scramble for votes in the state’s 2024 U.S. Senate race. Democrat Sen. Bob Casey lost his reelection bid to Republican Dave McCormick in a close election that is now undergoing a recount. McCormick was declared the winner by the Associated Press before the recount was triggered, but Casey refuses to accept the loss.
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