One reason why 2024 wasn’t 2020 is that Republicans actually secured some court wins for election integrity. One of those was getting the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to rule that there was to be no counting undated ballots. Having learned their lesson from 2020, Republicans went back to court over and over again to establish that point.

Local Democrats simply chose to ignore it and decided to count undated ballots anyway because the law does not apply to them. No, really.

The chairwoman of the Bucks County Board of Commissioners, Diane Ellis-Marseglia, a Democrat, who openly advocated for Pennsylvania election officials to violate the law by counting illegal ballots in the U.S. Senate contest between challenger Dave McCormick and the incumbent Bob Casey, although every major media outlet has declared McCormick to be the winner.

And what did Ellis-Marseglia actually say? “I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country… People violate laws anytime they want. So, for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention.”

Imagine a Republican chair saying that in 2020. And then imagine them not going to jail.

When Republicans game out plans to contest an election, it’s an attack on democracy and everyone involved has to be tried and disbarred.

When Democrats actually just go ahead and violate a state supreme court order, and announce that they are intentionally violating the law, nothing happens to them.