Pennsylvania County Official Apologizes for Controversial Comments on Ballot-Counting

Bucks County Commissioner Dianne Ellis-Marseglia speaks during a board meeting in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 20, 2024. Bucks County government

The commissioner of a Pennsylvania county at the center of a weeks-long ballot-counting controversy issued an apology on Wednesday after the state’s Supreme Court ruled to block the counting efforts.

At a Wednesday Bucks County Board of Elections meeting, Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia—one of two county commissioners who had voted to count undated and misdated ballots for the Nov. 5 election—issued a public apology on a comment she had made last week. Their decision had gone against a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling.

Last week, Ellis-Marseglia said that “people violate laws any time they want,” drawing controversy and criticism from local Republican officials.

“I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country and people violate laws anytime they want,” she said in last week’s hearing. “So for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want the court to pay attention to it.”

A week later, on Wednesday, the commissioner said that her comment was taken out of context. However, she also apologized, saying, “The passion in my heart got the best of me, and I apologize again for that.”

“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,” Ellis-Marseglia, a Democrat, said according to a video feed of the Bucks County commissioners’ meeting.

Elaborating, the official said that, to her, it is “frustrating and unconscionable that we would have to take away somebody’s vote” after an employee “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,” she said.

Her county was one of several across Pennsylvania that voted earlier this month to count the ballots. On Monday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reiterated its ruling and blocked Bucks County, a Democrat-controlled suburb of Philadelphia, from counting those votes.

“This order shall be deemed authoritative and controlling in all such matters and as to all county election board members,” the court wrote.

The order stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania Republican Party on Nov. 14 that sought to block officials from counting those ballots.

The order has significant implications for the U.S. Senate race. The Associated Press and Decision Desk have called the race in favor of Republican candidate Dave McCormick over incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), whose votes differed by only a few thousand ballots.

The state Supreme Court responded on Nov. 1 with an order that halted the appeals court decision while clarifying that its decision didn’t apply to the general election on Nov. 5.

Multiple Republican groups were critical of Ellis-Marseglia’s comments, with some calling for her resignation or impeachment.

The Pennridge Area GOP called for locals to sign a petition to impeach both Ellis-Marseglia and Commissioner Robert Harvie, who also voted to count the ballots, accusing them of civil rights violations, contempt of court, and negligence.

Earlier this week, Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro issued a statement siding with the state Supreme Court in its decision to halt ballot counting, emphasizing upholding the rule of law.

“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.

As of Thursday morning, Casey has yet to concede to McCormick in the Senate race.