Doylestown — Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey’s struggle to remain in office, and two Bucks County Commissioners’ effort to help him by counting improper votes, are kaput. But nearly 100 area residents flooded into the county courthouse Wednesday to herald a new, related battle to get Democrats Diane Ellis-Marseglia and Bob Harvie off the county’s Board of Commissioners.

Many urged the two to resign but, failing that, would like to see them impeached, prosecuted, or, three years hence, electorally defeated. The commissioners’ adversaries say Ellis-Marseglia and Harvie acted lawlessly in an attempt to count hundreds of disallowed ballots. 

In fact, on November 12, Ellis-Marseglia said the same herself. 

“We all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country and people violate laws any time they want,” she said. “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.”

At that earlier meeting, she and Harvie voted to count undated or misdated mail-in and provisional ballots. Their Republican colleague on the three-member panel, Gene DiGirolamo, opposed the move which would have contravened both Pennsylvania statute and a state Supreme Court decision.

The two Democrats’ flouting of the law begot national media scrutiny. The left-leaning Washington Post described their action as “corrosive to democracy” and called Ellis-Marseglia’s admission “breathtaking.” 

The state Supreme Court halted the inclusion of the spoiled ballots earlier this week. While a recount in Casey’s reelection contest against GOP challenger Dave McCormick continues, the three-term Democrat trails by too much to have a realistic chance to overturn McCormick’s victory.

Bucks County voters who opposed the improper counting began their declamations against the commissioners with a demonstration on the courthouse’s front lawn before the board’s 10:30 a.m. meeting. 

Jamie Cohen Walker, a Central Bucks School District mother who has fought the county in court for transparency on Bucks’s restrictive 2020 Covid-related health guidance, said Ellis-Marseglia’s behavior typifies her tendency to be opaque and heavy-handed.

“She doesn’t want people to read her words,” Walker said. “So when Commissioner Marseglia says the precedent of the court ‘doesn’t matter anymore in this county [sic]’ and “people violate laws any time they want,” she is speaking about herself and her own action. And she will do this again if she is given the opportunity to.” 

Bucks County Republican Committee Chair Pat Poprik echoed Walker’s sorrow about the board majority’s vote-counting policy. 

“This is a travesty that we have to be here today to make sure that the law is followed,” she lamented. 

Several other orators urged Ellis-Marseglia and Harvie to resign, while activist Skip Salvesen professed a desire to impeach the officials, something that can only be done by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Insofar as Democrats control the state House of Representatives, such a project would have no practical chance of succeeding. 

A pro-impeachment change.org petition Salvesen created has nevertheless garnered more than 3,000 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon, with about 85 percent of signers hailing from Bucks County. He said he has raised about $5,000 to promote the endeavor. 

“To people who say impeachment is infeasible or unrealistic…, impeachment is the last step on a very long road,” he told onlookers. “But the journey has already started, and the first step is the organization of popular support.” 

During the commissioners’ meeting itself, Ellis-Marseglia insisted she was contrite for making her statement, mainly because it was “confusing.” While apologizing, she argued her original comments referred to provisional ballots allegedly misdated due to the oversight of a judge of elections rather than spoiled mail-in ballots. She also claimed, contrary to video footage, that her words were “clipped” to look “out of context.” 

“I feel terrible about it,” she said. “I should have been more clear. I will be more clear in the future.” 

The audience, which filled the meeting space to capacity, reacted by exclaiming, “Resign!” Many held signs with the demand emblazoned on them, while others read “TYRANT” next to a picture of Ellis-Marseglia. Numerous other residents who couldn’t get seats were ushered to a nearby room to watch the proceedings’ broadcast.

And during a long public-comment period, dozens approached the podium one by one to denounce the majority commissioners. The first speaker, Christine Heitman, said she planned to file a criminal complaint against Ellis-Marseglia and Harvie in Commonwealth Court and added she foresaw others doing so as well. 

“Diane’s actually right,” Heitman said. “The law doesn’t matter anymore in this country because people like you violate it all the time and all we the people do is sit here and complain. Well, I want to let you [the commissioners] know that I’m not going to take it anymore.” 

While pursuing the matter criminally seems like an uphill fight, another speaker promised the commissioners’ critics would wage a robust political offensive if the three commissioners run for reelection. 

Scott Presler, a nationally known conservative activist who championed the recent voter-registration efforts that gave Republican voters their current plurality in Bucks, vowed to keep working in the county to get the Democratic commissioners ousted. 

“Peacefully, we are coming for your seat in 2027!” he admonished.

Bradley Vasoli is a writer and media strategist in Pennsylvania. You can follow him on X at @BVasoli.