PA Democrats defy two state Supreme Court rulings

(by NY Post Editorial Board) – Democratic officials in Pennsylvania are finally saying out it loud: Election denial is an unconscionable, existential threat to democracy — unless a Republican wins, in which case it’s fine to ignore the law to overturn it.

Commissioners in four Pennsylvania counties have been counting ballots disqualified by the state’s top court in a bid to overturn the results in the Senate race between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and GOP challenger Dave McCormick.

As of Monday (Nov. 18), McCormick was still up by tens of thousands of votes; the Associated Press called the race for him last Thursday (Nov. 14), yet Casey refused to concede.

And the election boards have been busy trying to save him.

Republican Dave McCormick (left) and Democrat Bob Casey (right)

No matter that the Keystone State’s Supreme Court (five Democrats, two Republicans, incidentally) twice ruled before Election Day that ballots are invalid if they lack a correct date on the return envelopes.

“We all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country, and people violate laws any time they want,” Diane Ellis-Marseglia, a Bucks County commissioner [asserted last week]. “There’s nothing more important than counting votes.”

Montgomery County’s election-board chairman, Neil Makhija, insisted the date “is immaterial and serves no purpose.”

In other words, ignore the law and keep counting ’til you steal the election.

Yet mainstream media largely ignored the outrage, with The New York Times treating the ongoing counts as a “twist” to the election.

Happily, the McCormick campaign went back to the high court, which on Monday issued a “shall comply” order to shut down the illegal counting of defective ballots. [The Court issued a statement enforcing its ruling, explicitly stating that election officials should not include undated mail ballots.] [Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley responded to the ruling on X writing, “No more excuses. Election officials in Bucks, Montgomery, Philadelphia, and other counties have absolutely no choice but to reject illegal ballots. We will hold them to it. Protect The Vote!”]

Will the third time prove the charm for the self-proclaimed “save democracy” party?

Maybe: After days of silence, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) at last weighed in [after the Court’s ruling Monday], saying: “Any insinuation that our laws can be ignored or do not matter is irresponsible and does damage to faith in our electoral process.  It is critical for counties and officials in both parties to respect it with both their rhetoric and their actions.”

If he has any shame left, Casey will now concede and let the state avoid the expense of a pointless recount.

The rogue commissioners, meanwhile, better find lawyers.

Published at nypost .com on November 18, 2024. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.

UPDATE:  Following the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s third ruling Monday on the illegal ballots, Bucks County Comissioner Ellis-Marseglia, a Democrat, blamed a “misinterpretation of [an] inartfully worded statement on my part.”  She said, “I apologize for all the upset and confusion it caused.”

As noted, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reiterated its stance Monday with an additional ruling instructing against the inclusion of undated mail ballots. Following the Court’s latest ruling, Ellis-Marseglia said “This is exactly what I was hoping for, for the court to weigh in and give us clarity. We were under a stay, and now we have full clarity.”

Several Pennsylvania counties began recounting ballots in the contested Senate race on Monday. The remaining counties must start before Wednesday. Counties must finish their recount by next Tuesday, Nov. 26, and report the results to Secretary of the Commonwealth the following day.