The Pennsylvania Supreme Court was NOT amused by three PA counties blatantly breaking election laws. I say blatantly because several commissioners are on public record saying they can do whatever they want.

https://twitter.com/BucksGOP/status/1857129301092807028

The rest of the post reads:

“…precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country. And people violate laws anytime they want. For me if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention to it.” – Diane Marseglia

Thank you to Republican Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo for making a motion to uphold the law!

Our attorneys are working with attorneys from the PAGOP and RNC to address this matter.

In this case, Bucks, Philadelphia, and Montgomery counties are on record flouting current Pennsylvania election law by counting misdated or undated ballots. Which is illegal. 

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday rebuked Democratic-controlled elections boards that counted undated and misdated mail ballots, siding with Republicans and reiterating that such votes are invalid.

Philadelphia, Montgomery and Bucks counties voted to count hundreds of such ballots in recent days despite previous rulings from the court that they cannot be included in this election.

Yet, they persisted. President Trump’s team and others were all over this and made sure to take this BACK to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. This while Bob Casey still won’t concede and Senator Mitch McConnell tried to block David McCormick from starting the Senatorial process. 

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1858608983281381840

As noted above, Bucks County Commissioner Diane Marseglia essentially DARED the court to pay attention to her breaking the law. They did, and they were NOT happy campers that she and others so blatantly broke the law. This ruling was the proverbial, SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP Gibbs slap upside the head.

The Court hereby ASSUMES its King’s Bench authority over the instant Application, see 42 Pa.C.S. § 502, only to DIRECT that 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 for purposes of the election held on November 5, 2024.

Oh boy howdy. That will leave a big mark. Election integrity is a must no matter the race whether it’s local, county, state, or federal. Pennsylvania has rules in place for a reason, as does every state. The laws should be adhered to. But three PA counties wanted to go their own way and fortify the results regardless of the rule of law and election integrity. 

This slap down by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is a thing of beauty, as is the concurring opinion. 

In a concurring opinion, three of the court’s seven justices condemned elections officials that voted to count the ballots with date issues.

“I write separately to disabuse local elections officials of the notion that they have the authority to ignore Election Code provisions that they believe are unconstitutional. Only the courts under our charter may declare a statute, or provision thereof, unconstitutional,” wrote Justice Kevin Brobson, joined by Wecht and Mundy.

This Senate race is headed to a recount because of the vote totals and the fact that it’s within the 1% margin. I can only surmise that the three counties involved wanted to count undated or misdated ballots in hopes that Democrat Bob Casey would prevail and hand a loss to President Trump. Their willingness to break the law leads me to that presumption, as well as reporting concerning whom they support. 

Bucks County commissioner Bob Harvie attended a rally in August against Republican Dave McCormick, where he stood with activists carrying signs that called McCormick “weird” and falsely claimed he “made money on fentanyl.” Harvie and his fellow Democrat Diane Ellis-Marseglia have donated $2,600 to Casey’s campaign this year, according to campaign finance records. Harvie and Marseglia are the duo behind Bucks United, a “well-planned coordinated campaign” that aims to elect Democrats “up and down the ballot” in the Keystone State. According to the Bucks United website, the group’s efforts “yielded the first county wide victories for Democrats in modern history” in 2017, and “set the stage for … Bob Casey’s 2018 statewide victor[y].”

Something else to remember concerning this particular case of election integrity in Pennsylvania. 

Four years ago Bob Casey called for Trump to be impeached all because Trump questioned the administration of the 2020 election.

But Casey is now *actually* doing what he wrongly accused Trump of doing pic.twitter.com/TdV37jHh3u

— Brianna Lyman (@briannalyman2) November 18, 2024

I’d say that’s called…KARMA. 

Now the question is, will Bucks, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties straighten up and fly right? Or will they defy this new ruling? We will soon find out!

Feature Photo Credit: mail in ballot via iStock, cropped and modified