A Pennsylvania Democrat election official walked back her statements during a Wednesday meeting after saying that court precedent “doesn’t matter in this country.”
In a meeting last week, Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia, a Democrat, voted to count provisional ballots that were missing one of two required voter signatures despite being told by a county attorney that the state Supreme Court had already ruled that such ballots cannot be counted.
“We all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country and people violate laws any time they want,” Ellis-Marseglia said in a clip that has since gone viral on social media. “So for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention to it. There is nothing more important than counting votes.”
The state Supreme Court reaffirmed its previous decision that counties cannot count incorrectly dated or undated ballots. The 4-3 ruling on Monday singled out the Boards of Elections in Bucks County, Montgomery County, and Philadelphia County, whom they said “SHALL COMPLY with the prior rulings of this Court in which we have clarified” for mail-in and absentee ballots in their Nov. 1 ruling.
Ellis-Marseglia read out her apology on Wednesday during a packed meeting which featured frequent jeers and calls for her to resign from the public.
“Last Thursday, when I spoke at the meeting that you’re all here about, the passion in my heart got the best of me, and I apologize again for that,” she said. “That was a hearing, and we were talking about provisional ballots. We were specifically talking about the fact that there were certain provisional ballots where a judge of elections did not sign and did not make sure that a voter signed on the outside envelope. To me, it was frustrating and unconscionable that we would have to take away somebody’s vote not because they made a mistake, but because an employee, one of our members … one of the judges of elections didn’t know what to do or forgot or made a mistake. That issue that I spoke on has now gone viral from my comments. It was genuinely not the best words. I would do it all again. I feel terrible about it. I should have been more clear, please, I will be more clear in the future.”
Ellis-Marseglia claimed her reference to court precedent related to the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v Wade which triggered audible groans from the crowd.
“I remind you all that we all say things that are out of turn, we all made mistakes. I made a mistake! And because I am an election official, I am held to a far higher standard than everybody else,” she said. “When I inartfully 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.”
The audience erupted in boos and groans, as Ellis-Marseglia pounded her gavel and responded, “If you would just bear with me for one more minute!”
“Unfortunately, I took my frustration out on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, many of whom are friends of mine who I respect, and whose decisions are complicated and difficult and important,” she said. “We are all going to learn lessons from this new media landscape. And most of all, I am. 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 that I have had to set the record straight.”
The initial clip of the comment by Ellis-Marseglia triggered widespread backlash on social media.
“This is a BLATANT violation of the law and we intend to fight it every step of the way,” Lara Trump, President-elect Trump’s daughter-in-law and co-chair of the Republican National Committee, wrote in a post on X.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) also sided with the state’s Supreme Court.
“Any insinuation that our laws can be ignored or do not matter is irresponsible and does damage to faith in our electoral process,” said Shapiro. “The rule of law matters in Pennsylvania. … It is critical for counties in both parties to respect it with both their rhetoric and their actions.”
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She needs to be arrested and tried for election interference. If trump can be indicted for simply saying “find me 11000 votes” when we all knew what he meant, then this criminal that tried to steal the election should be indicted. She didn’t speak out of turn and the only mistake she made was attempting to interfere with an election and the will of the people. She and the others that voted to count the ineligible votes need to be removed from their seats and all tried for election interference. They have shown they cannot be trusted to faithfully discharge the duties of their positions.
No your not! That’s the Democrats way, lie!