Bucks County, Pennsylvania commissioner apologizes and clarifies comments about counting ballots
Being one of the state's biggest swing counties, Bucks has been in the national spotlight this entire election, from campaign stops to long lines.
Wednesday morning at a Board of Elections meeting, Democratic Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia spoke about a controversial comment she made last week. She is one of two Bucks County commissioners who voted to count misdated and undated ballots, which went against a state Supreme Court ruling.
Ellis-Marseglia has come under fire for a comment she made later saying, "People violate laws any time they want."
Prior to Wednesday's meeting, the Bucks County GOP held a news conference outside the Administration Building where Chair Pat Poprik said, "If you don't like the law, don't bother to follow it. That's what she said. She didn't like it. Well, guess what? We didn't like what she did, do we? This is a travesty."
At Wednesday's meeting, Ellis-Marseglia said the comment was taken out of context and that it was about provisional ballots and missing signatures. Still, she apologized at the meeting.
"Last Thursday, when I spoke at the meeting that you're all here about, the passion in my heart got the best of me, and I apologize again for that," she said.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Board of Elections is also under legal fire for voting 2-1 to count mail-in ballots with missing or incorrect dates.
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court again ruled that misdated and undated ballots should not be counted. Ultimately, neither board of elections counted the ballots that didn't meet the date requirement.
