The Bucks County Commissioner, who voted last week to allow illegal, undated mail-in ballots to be counted and argued that “people violate laws all the time,” apologized on Wednesday after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled against the county on Monday.
Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia began the meeting’s first public comment period by delivering a lengthy apology before asserting her declarations that “precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country,” “people violate laws anytime they want,” and “if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention to it” were taken out of context on social media.
“I wanted to start by apologizing for the upset and confusion that I have caused the citizens of Bucks County, and the hardworking employees of this county, and my family and those who share my last name,” said Ellis-Marseglia. “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.”
Ellis-Marseglia (pictured above) made the November 14 comments after she and Commissioner Bob Harvie outvoted Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo during a November 14 meeting, voting to allow votes deemed illegal by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to be counted as Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) refuses to concede to Senator-elect Dave McCormick despite the election being called by The Associated Press.
In response to legal action after Ellis-Marseglia and Harvie’s decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a ruling against Bucks County on Monday, prohibiting it from counting the illegal votes.
Ellis-Marseglia then argued her November 14 comments specifically referenced provisional ballots.
“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,” said Ellis-Marseglia.
The commissioner acknowledged, “it’s confusing,” before claiming her statements about provisional ballots were conflated with the county’s decision to count illegal mail-in ballots, arguing her statement was “clipped” and taken “out of context” on television and social media.
She also asserted her November 14 statement about ignoring precedent set by a court did not reference the Pennsylvania Supreme Court but was instead a charged political message directed at the U.S. Supreme Court for its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2021.
“When I in-artfully 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,” Ellis-Marseglia stated.
Her apology was lost on Christine Heitman, a Bucks County resident who vowed to file a criminal complaint against Ellis-Marseglia and Harvie for their November 14 decision to count illegal ballots when the public was allowed to comment Wednesday.
“I want to let you know that I’m not going to take it anymore. I have decided to file a criminal complaint against both of you for breaking the following laws,” said Heitman, before listing Pennsylvania laws Title 25 Section 3501, Title 25 Section 3510, Title 25 Section 3527, as well as 52 USC 10308, a federal law adopted in 2020 to protect voting rights.
BREAKING: A citizen of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, just EXPOSED the commissioners who voted to count illegal ballots to help Democrats cheat. She told them she filed for criminal prosecutions against them.
“I have decided to file a criminal complaint against both of you for… pic.twitter.com/qVkQKpUuyJ
— George (@BehizyTweets) November 20, 2024
Bucks County Republican Party Chair Pat Poprick stopped short of calling for criminal charges but demanded a “grave debriefing and fixing of this mess.”
She told Ellis-Marseglia and Harvie, “This is not our county, at least it wasn’t. And now it’s become a laughing stock and an embarrassment. Please, think about it when you make you remarks in the future.”
Early Vote Action Founder Scott Presler, who celebrated earlier this year after the number of registered Republicans in Bucks County surpassed its number of registered Democrats, pledged to lead an effort to unseat Ellis-Marseglia and Harvie when they are up for reelection in 2027.
“Peacefully, we are coming for your seat in 2027 if you don’t resign today. Commissioner Harvie, this goes for you too. You are complicit,” said Presler. “I am going to spend all of my time in Bucks County for the next three years, making sure we take back Bucks County.”
JUST IN: Scott Presler absolutely demolishes Bucks County, PA Commissioner to her face, tells her he is coming for her seat.
The comment clearly triggered what sounded like chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia who shot back, "Have at it."
Presler: I have a message: peacefully, we are… pic.twitter.com/gcEDMeuYPf
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 20, 2024
Prominent Republicans have said they will pursue criminal charges against Ellis-Marseglia and Harvie, including RNC Chair Michael Whatley, who told a reporter for The Daily Caller the party would “pursue this to the fullest extent we can.”
Whatley’s comments followed those posted to the social media platform X by former Trump campaign co-chair Chris LaCivita, who wrote, “They will go to jail count on it.”
After the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s ruling against Buck County on Monday, LaCivita wrote in another post to X, “now let’s get the state police involved.”
Watch the full commission meeting:
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
