Bucks County Commissioners on Thursday counted unsigned provisional ballots as Democrats and Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) contest Sen.-elect Dave McCormick's (R-Pa.) election victory. , in open defiance of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Bucks County Commission Chair Robert J. Harvey Jr. (D) and Vice Chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia (D) I decided This is to count provisional ballots that are missing a signature in one of two locations, which officials call the “second block” and “fourth block.” A third commissioner, Gene DiGirolamo (R), was the only dissenter against Democrats' request to count the votes.
The decision to count Harvey Jr. and Ellis Marseglia's votes came despite a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling just a few months ago that unsigned provisional ballots should not be counted.
The case was challenged by Jamie Walsh and Mike Cavell, Republican primary candidates for Pennsylvania's 117th Congressional District, but the court ruled dominated Voters must sign their provisional ballot envelope.
According to Election Code Section 3050(a.4), which was highlighted in the court's decision, those who vote with a provisional ballot must also submit a signed affidavit.
After Deputy County Attorney Daniel Grieser advised them that “unless the voter signed in two places, these should not be counted,” Ellis Marseglia and Harvey Jr. signed in one place anyway. They decided to count the missing votes.
DiGirolamo's vote-counting motion passes because there are ballots in the county that are missing two signatures, as well as ballots that are missing signatures in either the “second block” or the “fourth block.” At the last minute, they moved to reject all three types of ballots with missing signatures in one vote. Motion, group them all together.
The motion was defeated along with her colleagues, but before it was defeated, Ellis-Marseglia shockingly stated that she did not care about precedent, and that ignoring recent state Supreme Court decisions would lead to a public scandal. He touted his indifference as to whether his position violated the law.
“I think everyone knows that court precedent no longer matters in this country and people will break the law all the time,” she said. “So, for me, I violate this law because I want the court to pay attention.”
“And there's nothing more important than counting the votes, and I'm going to see it through to the end,” she added.
Ellis Marseglia went on to imply that she did not heed the county attorney's advice because she wanted to bring this back to court.
“With all due respect, the goal of our legal department is to stay out of any courtroom, because that's what we're supposed to do. But neither we nor anyone we want to go to court. There might be,” she laughed.
Grieser said he believes “the Department of Justice's advice to follow the state of the law has been consistent, at least since I've been here.”
The three types of ballots in question were ultimately voted on separately. This led Harvey Jr. and Ellis Marseglia to accept Democratic objections if one signature is missing on the ballot, but reject objections if both signatures are missing.
Republican and McCormick attorney Walter Jimolong highlighted the Supreme Court's decision in the Walsh case while arguing before the board prior to the motion.
“The Supreme Court stated that Election Code Section 3050(a)(4) has a clear requirement that voters must sign in both places, and no matter what happens, their vote will not be counted. That's very clearly stated,'' Jimoron said.
The Bucks County Republican Party announced Thursday afternoon that its attorneys will work with officials from the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Pennsylvania Republican Party (PAGOP) to “address this matter.”
Bucks County Courier Times reported On Thursday, McCormick sued the county election board for allegedly accepting “more than 400 mail-in ballots with incorrect or undated dates.” It's unclear whether the lawsuit encompasses the board's defiance of a months-old Supreme Court ruling regarding the rejection of unsigned ballots.
The board's decision comes as Casey and Democrats are contesting the Senate election results, despite The Associated Press calling for McCormick to run last Wednesday. of new york times Latest results as of Thursday night showed Mr. McCormick, who has already staked out an office in the Capitol, leads by 24,154 votes. The race is headed for a recount.
