Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia became famous when she announced that she was voting to count ballots the court had already said should not be counted because no one listens to the courts nowadays.
The Democrat Bucks County Commissioners just voted to count misdated and undated mail in ballots to try and help Bob Casey and one of them straight up says that she knows it’s illegal but simply does not care.
Dems are trying to steal an election in PA.pic.twitter.com/7KP4Qoy31b
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 14, 2024
Well, she got her wish. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania once again reaffirmed that ballots without signatures should not be counted. As Ed noted yesterday, the court even put the important parts in bold to make it clear what they expected.
…all Respondents, including the Boards of Elections in Bucks County, Montgomery County, and Philadelphia County, SHALL COMPLY with the prior rulings of this Court in which we have clarified that mail-in and absentee ballots that fail to comply with the requirements of the Pennsylvania Election Code, see 25 P.S. §§ 3146.6(a), 3150.16(a), SHALL NOT BE COUNTED
Can you hear me now?
And also yesterday, Gov. Josh Shapiro belatedly came out of hiding and said he expected county commissioners to obey court rulings. “The court has now ruled on the counting of these ballots specific to the Nov. 5, 2024, election, and I expect all county election officials to adhere to this ruling and all the applicable laws governing our elections,” he said. But he added one more comment aimed directly at Commissioner Ellis-Marseglia: “Any insinuation that our laws can be ignored or do not matter is irresponsible and does damage to faith in our electoral process.”
Around the time all of this was happening, the commissioner claimed her statement had been misinterpreted.
Ellis-Marseglia, a Democrat, blamed a “misinterpretation of [an] inartfully worded statement on my part” after her comment drew rebukes from President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign and the state’s Democratic governor, among a host of others, after Bucks County was one of several that defied a guidance from the state’s high court and voted to accept undated mail ballots.
“I apologize for all the upset and confusion it caused,” Ellis-Marseglia said about her comments…
“This is exactly what I was hoping for, for the court to weigh in and give us clarity,” Ellis-Marseglia said. “We were under a stay, and now we have full clarity.”
As both the court and the Gov. have made clear, there was never any doubt about what the court expected. This had been settled before the commissioner announced that laws don’t matter. She wasn’t asking for clarity so much as demanding the courts take a second look to rescue a Democratic politician who was losing. They did take a second look, but not in a way that was good for her.
Having made Bucks County the focus of election misconduct in 2024, not just from the right but also from the court, the governor and the Washington Post, she should probably consider resigning as the next step following her apology. Her remarks weren’t misinterpreted, they were perfectly clear. But I won’t hold my breath waiting for that to happen.
