Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) said Sunday on CNN's “State of the Union” that Bucks County Elections Commissioner Diane Ellis Marseglia said the county violated the bill by counting votes without signatures. When asked about what he said, he said it would not affect the election results. Decision of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
A partial transcription follows:
Jake Tapper: Your colleague, Sen. Bob Casey, was up for re-election, and his re-election was so close that there is now a federally mandated recount. He is trailing Dave McCormick by 18,000 votes. Democratic officials in Bucks County, at least one key county, are refusing to count about 115 provisional ballots missing signatures, even though the Pennsylvania Supreme Court previously ruled them invalid. I voted.
Hear how one Democratic Bucks County commissioner justified his actions.
(start of video clip)
Diane Ellis Marseglia: I think we all know that court precedent no longer matters in this country and people can break the law whenever they want. So, for me, if I violate this law, I want the court to take notice.
(end video clip)
TAPPER: So the Washington Post editorial board, quote unquote, called this “corrosive of democracy'' and, quote unquote, said, “County officials are not aware that legal requirements are important.'' and they have no authority to decide whether it must be followed or not. The courts have done so, and they have clearly stated”—unquoted.
What is your view and how do you react to those Democratic officials who intentionally announced that they were going to count provisional ballots in defiance of court orders?
Fetterman: Well, again, I'm not going to go after all kinds of quotes and things like that. Because I think you just pointed out that it's referring to about 115 ballots, and that's not going to affect this race at this point.
So, where we are now is very close. And I guarantee you, if Dave McCormick were in the opposite situation, down 15,000 to 17,000 votes, he would absolutely want every last vote counted. And Bob Casey never claimed fraud. And now with all the Republicans
Conservatives on Twitter aren't talking about, oh, they're cheating, they're doing all sorts of things, after Trump won. No one claims there was any actual wrongdoing on our part.
Call and count all votes. That's our goal. And that's the law. And when it's over, and even if Bob Casey isn't even close, I can almost guarantee he'll do the right thing and concede. That's the problem.
But what I want to say is that no one is claiming that there is any wrongdoing or anything on our part. It's like, “Okay, come on, let's count every last vote.”
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