by Christen Smith
Local officials caught defying Pennsylvania election law may find themselves without a job.
Rep. Joe D’Orsie (pictured above), R-York, is drafting legislation that would give the state House the power to remove county and municipal officials from office. It’s similar to the impeachment process and would ultimately require voter approval.
D’Orsie and other members of the Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus back the bill after Bucks County Commissioners voted to count roughly 400 ballots with dating errors amid a razor-thin race between incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. and his Republican challenger Dave McCormick.
“Pennsylvania voters shouldn’t have to tolerate rogue county officials openly usurping state law to satisfy their own political whims,” he said. “This legislation establishes a process for local voters to decide whether a county or municipal official should be removed from office after an offense like we witnessed in Bucks County.”
During a Nov. 14 meeting, Commission Chairwoman Diane Ellis-Marseglia said she knew counting the votes defied the state Supreme Court’s ruling, but she didn’t care.
“I think we all know that precedent by a court does not matter anymore in this country, and people violate laws anytime they want,” she said. “So for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention.”
And pay attention they did. Four days after the board’s action, the state Supreme Court reaffirmed that the ballots were defective.
The 4-3 order came after the state and national Republican Party filed for extraordinary relief over the issue, which also unfolded in Centre, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.
In a concurring statement, Justice Kevin Brobson reminded local officials they lack any authority to interpret state law. Justices David Wecht and Sally Updyke Mundy agreed.
“I write separately to disabuse local elections officials of the notion that they have the authority to ignore Election Code provisions that they believe are unconstitutional,” he said. “Only the courts under our charter may declare a statute, or provision thereof, unconstitutional.”
Casey’s campaign said tossing ballots with dating errors disenfranchised voters. McCormick made the same argument, unsuccessfully, in 2022 after he lost to Dr. Mehmet Oz in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
Oz faced off against Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate who ultimately won the seat by more than 5 percentage points.
Casey conceded to McCormick 17 days after the polls closed on Nov. 5 as the former hedge fund CEO’s 17,000-vote lead appeared to be holding – even amid an automatic recount.
McCormick’s campaign said the outcome was a foregone conclusion and shouldn’t have cost taxpayers $1 million to reaffirm.
“Pennsylvanians deserve action after tyrants seek to undermine our institutions,” said Rep. Robert Leadbeter, R-Bloomsburg, who chairs the Freedom Caucus. “At a time when confidence in our election process is waning, the least responsible thing to do as legislators is to turn a blind eye and leave illicit behavior unchecked. The Freedom Caucus is proud to lead the charge to right this wrong.”
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Christen is Pennsylvania editor for The Center Square newswire service and co-host of Pennsylvania in Focus, a weekly podcast on America’s Talking Network. Recognized by Editor and Publisher Magazine as one of the media industry’s “Top 25 Under 35” in 2024.
Background Photo “Pennsylvania Capitol” by Kumar Appaiah. CC BY-SA 2.0.
