Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) urged voters to "reject extremism at the ballot box" last year by electing fellow Democrat Diane Ellis-Marseglia for Bucks County commissioner. Now, Ellis-Marseglia is openly defying Pennsylvania law to count illegal votes, part of an eyebrow-raising maneuver to help Casey in his longshot recount against Republican Dave McCormick.
On Thursday, Ellis-Marseglia voted to count mail-in ballots that lacked signatures in defiance of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that such votes are invalid. Ellis-Marseglia acknowledged that the votes were invalid but said she wanted to count them anyway to force a court challenge.
"I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country," Ellis-Marseglia said at a commission meeting. "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."
Ellis-Marseglia’s remarks prompted an immediate outcry from Republicans, who called it a naked attempt to steal the election for Casey. The Philadelphia Inquirer similarly noted that Ellis-Marseglia and Bucks County were "openly" defying the state's high court. Casey, a three-term incumbent, trails McCormick by 25,000 votes in a race that the Associated Press and Decision Desk have already called in favor of the Republican. The race is headed for an automatic recount that will conclude on Nov. 27.
Casey’s ties to Ellis-Marseglia will likely raise concerns that the county official is breaking the law to help a political ally.
Casey played a key role in helping Ellis-Marseglia and fellow Democrat Bob Harvie, who was elected to the board of Bucks County commissioners, in their campaigns last year. Casey attended a private fundraiser for Ellis-Marseglia and Harvie last October and urged his social media followers to donate to their campaigns. Casey cheered their victories and thanked voters who "turned out to reject extremism at the ballot box."
The Bucks County votes are unlikely to help Casey overturn the outcome of the election, but Republicans are nonetheless concerned that Democrats will use illegal maneuvers to count enough mail-in and provisional votes to change the outcome of the race in Casey’s favor.
While the McCormick campaign said Thursday that Casey has "zero" chance of winning the race, they sounded the alarm about Democrats’ tactics and the involvement of Democratic hired gun Marc Elias.
"Marc Elias has a very checkered history," a McCormick campaign consultant told reporters on Thursday.
Elias, who joined the Casey recount effort last week, has used questionable tactics in the past to help Democrats overturn election results. In 2021, Elias argued that voter machine malfunctions cost his client, then-Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D., N.Y.), thousands of votes in his race against the victorious Republican, Claudia Tenney. Elias pressured House Democratic leaders that same year to overturn Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’s (R., Iowa) victory over his client, Rita Hart (D.). The gambit failed after Republicans drew attention to Elias’s scheme.
But Elias was the attorney for the last Senate Democrat to prevail after a recount. He represented comedian Al Franken in his runoff against incumbent Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman. Coleman led that race by 215 votes at the start of the runoff but ended up losing by 225 votes.
Casey’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.