DV Journal

The Bucks County Democrat who publicly declared her intention to violate election law and count inadmissible ballots now says her remarks were misinterpreted.

Bucks County Commission Chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia made national headlines when a video of her statements regarding her vote to accept the improper mail ballots went viral.

“I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country. People violate laws any time they want. So, for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention to it. There is nothing more important than counting votes,” Ellis-Marseglia said last Thursday.

On Monday, she backtracked, telling The Philadelphia Inquirer the backlash from rule of law advocates on both sides of the partisan aisle stemmed from a “misinterpretation of [an] inartfully worded statement on my part.”

“I apologize for all the upset and confusion it caused,” Ellis-Marseglia said.

Ellis-Marseglia made the initial comment during a Board of Elections meeting. Despite a Pennsylvania Supreme Court directive to the contrary, she argued that undated ballots should be counted.

Earlier on Monday, the state Supreme Court ruled yet again the ballots in question can’t be counted.

“The Court hereby ASSUMES its King’s Bench authority over the instant Application 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 SHALL NOT BE COUNTED for purposes of the election held on November 5, 2024.” (All capitalization in original).

Longtime Pennsylvania political analyst Salena Zito told Fox News the court’s frustration with county Democrats is apparent in the ruling.

“If you read the ruling, the state Supreme Court, which is 5-2 Democrat majority, literally wrote it in all caps like saying ‘You guys, we told you this already, and you’re doing it, and so we’re going to tell you again’ like they were 7-year-old children,” Zito told Fox News. “So I thought that was pretty funny.”

Pushing the counties to count the ineligible ballots is U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, who is hoping additional ballots and a recount can reverse his narrow loss to Republican Dave McCormick. McCormick currently leads Casey by more than 17,000 votes, according to unofficial returns. Both the Associated Press and DecisionDeskHQ have called the race for McCormick, making it one of the biggest upsets of the 2024 election cycle.

Despite being declared the loser, Casey has refused to concede. A state law-mandated recount is underway and is expected to be completed by Nov. 27. The recount will cost approximately $1 million in taxpayer money to reexamine all ballots.

In a PennLive op-ed, Casey argued undated ballots have been a recurring issue in state elections. He claimed voters would be disenfranchised if their ballots were not counted, though he declined to reference the state Supreme Court’s rulings on the matter.

Hours after Casey’s article was published, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled against him.

Republicans were quick to criticize Ellis-Marseglia, particularly in light of her $600 donation to Casey’s campaign.

“This board should follow the clear pronouncement of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court,” advised Wally Zimalong, an attorney for Republican McCormick’s U.S. Senate campaign.

Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita expressed outrage, vowing Ellis-Marseglia and others who violated election law would face criminal consequences. “Count on it,” he posted on social media.

“We will pursue to the fullest extent that we can,” Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley told reporters Monday.

Supreme Court Justice Kevin Brobson appeared to acknowledge Ellis-Marseglia’s statements in his concurring opinion Monday on the ballot decision.

“Indeed, this Court has held that administrative agencies, like county boards of elections, lack the authority to declare unconstitutional the very statutes from which they derive their existence and which they are charged to enforce,” Republican Brobson wrote.

Ellis-Marseglia claimed she was happy the state Supreme Court ordered all Boards of Election to disregard undated ballots.

“This is exactly what I was hoping for, for the court to weigh in and give us clarity … now we have full clarity,” she said.

Tensions between the Bucks County controller and the two Democratic county commissioners boiled over at the April 3 Salary Board meeting.

Democratic Commissioners Chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia and Vice Chair Bob Harvie voted against a request from Controller Pamela Van Blunk, a Republican, to give merit bonuses to some of her employees.

A motion for the bonuses failed 2-2, with minority Republican Commissioner Gene DiGiralomo voting with Van Blunk. Van Blunk, who is a lawyer, ran against Ellis-Marseglia and Harvie in 2023.

Ellis-Marseglia called Van Blunk “heartless” and accused her of “mismanagement” for making her employees work so hard and not hiring additional people.

Harvie told her to “decrease overtime. It’s not fair to them” and to hire more people, saying her department has seven unfilled positions.

Van Blunk said the county had not budgeted for those positions.

At the meeting, Van Blunk criticized the two Democrats for trying to get the county taxpayers to pay for a private luncheon.

“The county government is this wonderful system of checks and balances. The controller is a check and balance on the commissioners’ spending,” said Van Blunk. “I was asked to pay for an invoice to pay for over $1,700 for this administration’s inauguration private luncheon. And I denied it. Why? Because we protect the county. How would that look to the county?

“If the newspapers got ahold of that, the county paying $1,700 for a private political party would not look good. We check for fraud, waste, and abuse.”

When DVJournal asked her about the payment for the party, Van Blunk said the caterer removed a $344 service fee. Van Blunk eventually approved $760 for bagels, pastries, and coffee for a breakfast that was available to the public if they happened to come into the building. But she disallowed $780 for the private luncheon.

“The people of Bucks County elected me to be the county’s independent fiscal watchdog, and I take this job very seriously,” Van Blunk said. I’m proud that the Controller’s Office employees are equally dedicated to protecting our taxpayers.

“The personal attacks against me, my office, and my predecessor during a public meeting were, at best, a thinly veiled attempt to retaliate against my office for doing the right thing: denying payment for the commissioners’ private luncheon for their friends and family. At worst, it was an attempt to hamstring our office’s ability to be the independent fiscal watchdog of the county’s spending. However, these personal attacks will not work because as long as I am in office, I will not be intimidated and will continue to protect taxpayer dollars.”

In 2019, Bucks County paid $165,092,733 in employee salaries for 2,422 full-time employees. In the first three years since Marseglia and Harvie took office, ending Dec. 31, 2022, the county paid $179,782 in salaries for 2,374 full-time employees (48 fewer). That is a $14,537,049 increase in salaries, not including increases in pension liability.

During these three years, the commissioners voted to give 2 percent cost-of-living raises.

“This administration has increased salary expenses by $4.3 million in just three years,” said Van Blunk, who did not have the salary figures for 2023 available.

Ellis-Marseglia accused Van Blunk of lying about the luncheon and doubled down on her accusation of mismanagement.

“The entire premise is false. There was no ‘private luncheon.’ Staff and inauguration guests were included. Commissioner DiGirolamo was there with his family and staff as well. Besides that, the controller already paid half the bill. There was no retaliation,” said Ellis-Marseglia.

“If the controller wanted to give her employees raises, she could do so right now, without a salary board action, but has flatly refused,” said Ellis-Marseglia. “Instead, she has allowed a few employees to accrue thousands of hours of overtime, overworking them while leaving seven positions vacant in her office. She also rejected a motion to add a second deputy to ease the burden on her staff and reign in overtime costs. In any business or workplace, this level of overtime would be considered mismanagement, but with taxpayer dollars, it’s even worse,” she said.

Please follow DVJournal on social media: Twitter@DVJournal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal