Pennsylvania Democratic counties count ballots in defiance of state law, court rulings

PHILADELPHIA, PA - Democratic officials in four critical Pennsylvania counties are counting ballots that are void under state law, defying court orders in doing so.

The elected officials have chosen to count ballots lacking a secrecy envelope, and lacking the signatures and dates required to make them legally legitimate. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled before the November election that said ballots were no to be counted in the competitive swing state's electoral total, according to Fox News.

Officials in Bucks, Centre and Montgomery counties are all opting to count the disqualified ballots, as well as officials in the city of Philadelphia.

Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia even admitted that the rulings of the courts were of no consequence to the decision of her county commission, speaking about her commission's decision to count the disqualified ballots.

"I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country," Ellis-Marseglia said of the ruling.
 

"People violate laws anytime they want. So, for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention. There’s nothing more important than counting votes."

Pennsylvania's results in its presidential election appear nearly impossible to reverse, although the state's election for United States Senator could potentially reverse if enough ballots swing in the direction of Democratic Sen. Bob Casey. Republican Sen-elect Dave McCormick holds a narrow lead of 26,000 ballots over Casey- a margin that could come into question, if enough disqualified ballots are ultimately counted in the state's election.

Attorney for the Democrat continue to demand county officials count provisional ballots at municipal meetings across the state, even after organizations such as the Associated Press have called the election for McCormick. Casey has refused to concede.

Montgomery County board chair, Neil Makhija, pointed to discrepancies with secrecy envelopes that would otherwise discount ballots as "immaterial" in a county meeting over the topic.

"We’re talking about constitutional rights and I cannot take an action to throw out someone’s ballot that is validly cast, otherwise, over an issue that we know... is immaterial," the Democrat said of the matter. 

The Republican National Committee and McCormick have asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to re-affirm its pre-election ruling regarding the illegality of incomplete ballots, with Democrats countering by urging the court to allow the matter to work its way through local appellate courts.

A state-mandated recount process- necessitated by the close margin between McCormick and Casey- must be completed by Nov. 26 in accordance with state law.