Meet the new boss! Same as the old boss! Lamont McClure has officially been re-elected as Northampton County Executive. During an occasionally raucous 2 1/2 hour meeting of the Elections Commission on Monday afternoon, results of the November 2 municipal race were certified. The meeting was attended by nearly 40 people. Most had something to say.
Undated MIBs Not Counted
One significant difference in the vote tallies conducted in Northampton and Lehigh County concerned undated mail-in ballots (MIBs). Lehigh County chose to count them, while Northampton did not. In Lehigh County, their Board of Elections made the decision to count the undated MIBs. In Northampton County, the decision to exclude undated MIBs was apparently made by the county administration. This question should have been decided by the Elections Commission.
In Lehigh County, there are about 260 undated MIBs, enough to swing the judicial race between Dave Ritter and Zac Cohen to the latter. This is because about 70% of returned MIBs are Democratic. Judge Edward Reibman has been asked to decide whether undated MIBs should count. His decision will almost certainly be appealed.
In Northampton County, there are about 200 undated MIBs. If they were counted, they almost certainly would give Democrat Patti Bruno the 5th Council seat instead of John Brown. The unofficial tally placed her at just 42 votes behind him.
During the meeting, Dem party boss Matt Munsey urged the Elections Commission to count the undated ballots. He argued a person could insert whatever date he wanted and the vote would still count so long as the ballot is received before 8 pm on election day. He said, and courts have held, that they should err on the side of voters over a technicality.
Agreeing with Munsey was Attorney Michael Vargo, speaking on behalf of candidate Patti Bruno. He noted that all the undated ballots were received in a timely manner, and the Commission's decision effectively disenfranchises about 200 voters. Republican Commission member Frank DeVito said this change should come from the legislature. Maude Hornick, another Republican Commission member, said that counting undated ballots would be unfair to in-person voters who leave the polling place and forget to cast their ballot. Unless they are caught before they are outside the door, it's too late for their vote to count.
No formal challenge was filed concerning MIBs in Northampton County.
Last year, a divided Pa. Supreme Court honored undated MIBs received by election day. Justice Christine Donahue, writing the majority opinion, noted a well-settled principle of Pennsylvania election law that “[e]very rationalization within the realm of common sense should aim at saving the ballot rather than voiding it.”
Although Justice David Wecht went along with Donahue, he made clear that, "in future elections, I would treat the date and sign requirement as mandatory in both particulars, with the omission of either item sufficient without more to invalidate the ballot in question." His was the fifth vote needed for a majority.
Without Justice Wecht, it appears that Lehigh County's decision to allow undated MIBs is doomed.
24-hour Drop Boxes Panned
Most of the remaining speakers were there to address 24-hour drop boxes. Most were opposed. Mary Woznik suggested it was "inappropriate" for McClure, a candidate, to meet with 24-hour drop box supporter Lehigh Valley Stand Up concerning this issue. Mel Morgan noted, "We already have 24 -hour drop boxes called the post office." Failed Council candidate AnnaMarie Robertone, who finished 10th out of 10 candidates, said they open the door to fraud. She failed to explain exactly how that occurs.
Drop boxes had supporters, too. Fred Kruninger (sp?) said disenfranchisement, and not voter fraud, is the real issue. He argued that drop boxes are a convenience to those working several jobs or who are less mobile. He was echoed by Dale Sourbeck, who added that drop boxes are needed because the mail is "not good."
Sourbeck's comment prompted Commission member Maude Hornick to ask Sourbeck whether he got his ballot by mail. He did, and she snarked, "So it works one way and not the other." He indicated he applied for a MIB as soon as they were available.
Margie DeRensis (sp?) noted that drop boxes are needed by those who apply for a MIB late in the process. Commission member Frank DeVito later said, "That's on you."
Ar the conclusion of all this input, the Elections Commission voted 4-0 to recommend that drop box hours be limited to between 7 am and 10 pm.
Voting for this limitation were Democratic members Dr. Alan Brau and Gail W Preuninger as well as Republicans Maudenia Hornick and Frank L DeVito. Daniel Lopresti, a Democrat, was absent.
Political Signage at Polling Places
Although the wording in the meeting agenda was vague, the Elections Commission never had any intention of banning political signage from polling places. Registrar Amy Cozze explained that, on Election Eve, Easton Area School District unilaterally decided to remove all signs because candidates just leave them there.
She asked the Commission to recommend that County Council adopt an ordinance requiring removal after an election This recommendation was approved by Elections Comm'rs Brau, DeVito, Hornick and Preuninger.
Sore Loser Complaints
Failed Exec candidate Steve Lynch, accompanied by several of his acolytes, was there to complain about an unfair canvassing process even though there was bipartisan agreement among canvassers on counting and discounting questionable ballots. He also complained about the elections office retaining custody of MIBs, suggesting mischief was afoot. "We were lied to," he charged at one point. He never addressed drop boxes or undated MIBs, which is what brought most people to the meeting.
Authority of the Elections Commission
At one point during the meeting. Solicitor Richard Santee was asked precisely what authority the Elections Commission has. He noted that NorCo is a Home Rule Charter County in which procurement decisions are made by County Council and personnel decisions are made by the administration. He believes that the Elections Comm'n primarily engages in judicial functions. He did admit that the powers are a bit of a "grey area."
Elections Comm'rs Frank DeVito and Maude Hornick complain they are pretty much ignored. That's on them. Last year, they refused to approve epollbooks before the Presidential primary. This would have made an election impossible because the county was unable to obtain paper poll books. This refusal was a direct violation of their mandate to administer the conduct of elections. Instead of administering an election, they were preventing it from taking place,.
Authority for our Home Rule Charter comes from the Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law, 53 Pa.C.S. Section 2901 et seq. A home rule government may "exercise any powers and perform any function not denied by the Constitution of Pennsylvania, by statute or by its home rule charter. All grants of municipal power to municipalities governed by a home rule charter ... shall be liberally construed in favor of the municipality." 53 Pa.C.S. Section 2961.
This enabling law imposes a limitation on the "registration of electors and the conduct of elections." Those matters "may not be contrary to or in limitation or enlargement of powers granted by statutes." Id. Section 2962(a)(5). Thus, a Home Rule Charter County is unable to allow same day registration or change election dates. It is unable to postpone an election simply because it dislikes epollbooks.
Northampton County's Home Rule Charter establishes the Elections Commission to "administer the system of elections and the registration of voters under applicable law." HRC, Section 1007. (emphasis added.) That applicable law is both the Election Code and other provisions of the Home Rule Charter. They must be read in pari materia (together). The Elections Commission administers the conduct of elections and registration of voters. But this should be distinguished from the purchase of equipment or the hiring of employees, which has nothing to do with the actual conduct of an election.
The one requirement the Election Code expressly places on a Home Rule Charter County is the appointment of at least one minority party representative on the Elections Comm'n. Northampton County has two.
The Election Code also gives the Elections Commission authority to make purchases and hire and fire employees. But these provisions have nothing to do with the actual conduct of elections or registration of voters. Thus, a Home Rule Charter County can perform these functions under other provisions established by law.
Article XIII of the HRC establishes a career service to ensure professionalism in county employment. If the Elections Comm'n were able to hire and fire at its own pleasure, this would create the very kind of cronyism the Home Rule Charter was intended to AVOID. Thus, the hiring and firing of employees, which is totally unrelated to the conduct of elections, is properly a function of the county's own hiring procedures.
Commissioner DeVito has now three times pointed out that, in the past, the Elections Comm'n has hired its own Registrar. He is correct, but the Elections Comm'n was simply ratifying a choice already made by the administration. Under the Charter, the administration hires and fires.
Article II of the HRC gives County Council, and not the Elections Comm'n, authority over the purse strings. The purchase of a voting system or epollbooks is unrelated to the actual conduct of an election, and hence is the province of County Council.
To be sure, there are functions that are the sole province of the Elections Comm'n, such as investigations into voter fraud, acceptance of returns and drop boxes. The decision to count or discount undated MIBs should have been made by them. Purchases and personnel are beyond the scope of this part-time volunteer body selected by party chairs. But the actual conduct of an election is their province, not that of an Exec seeking re-election.
I believe the Elections Commission has the authority to approve the hours of operation of drop boxes or disapprove them altogether.
22 comments:
You bend over backwards for your boy McClure. He should not be in charge of elections. He should not hire the head of elections. The Commission should interview and hire. Once hired he can supervise per career service rules.
Every point you cited could easily be argued the other way. So, stop feeding his power-hungry ego. All this is why there will be a Charter Review Committee voted on. Hopefully th run away power of county executive will be addressed.
Sure???
Once again McClueless over steps his authority. Lynch was right about corruption.
Lynch is always insisting that people are lying, engaging in fraud and just generally doing him wrong but never gets into specifics. Just constant grievances and whining. I honestly don't even understand what the little narcissist baby's point is anymore other than protecting his fragile ego.
Blah Blah - Blah Blah - Blah Blah Blah
can that foolish a*^hole of a loser just shut up and go away?
"Lynch is always insisting that people are lying, engaging in fraud and just generally doing him wrong but never gets into specifics"
He did himself no favors. I notice that, other than those who attended the canvass with him, no one supported anything he had to say. If the elections system in NorCo were really corrupt, we would have counted those Democratic MIBs and Patti Bruno would have been elected. Instead, and against my own interpretation of the law, the county concluded that it was unlikely the Supreme Court would approve undated MIBs. It is their interpretation that matters. So the lawyer of a Democratic administration concluded that Dem votes should not count.
It is time for Lynch to return to his gym.
It is time for Lynch to return to his gym.
his gym rats miss his daily sales pitch of supplements to pad his miserable income prospects
Time to take the wraps off a salary study (that should have been done in 2007 )....if McClure dares to do it and council has the balls to get to the real numbers in the county
Your comment has nothing to do with the topic at hand and is both rude and insulting. I spent 2 1/2 hours watching the meeting, followed by 5 hours writing the story and just finished cleaning up typos. OT comments are not permitted. If unable to address the topic, you will be deleted.
LV Stands Up, per admission of their representative at the October 7, 2021 council meeting, met not only with McClure while he was a candidate but with the "Amys" as well about support for 24-7 drop boxes. Who thought that was a good idea? I see no mention of the apparent question from the commission chair during the meeting about what "ballot harvesting" means. That, Bernie, is scary.
Thanks for this detailed report. In your opinion, will the NorCo un-dateds be counted, ultimately? I can't see how they're not.
The State D party needs to throw it's weight and money into the Bruno/Brown snafu and not slink away from it! Grow a pair and fight for those mib's to count. Oh..I forgot..we are now a Red state. BS!
One of the most sacred things we do as citizens of this great Country is we exercise our right to vote. If someone took the time to fill out a ballot and cast their vote their vote should be counted regardless of party affiliation. It is not fraud to overlook a signature. The County knows who sent in that ballot and except for the signature oversight it is perfectly legal. The vote should be counted.
It is not our political system that is corrupt, it is the Judges who take an oath that they are impartial in their decision making that are corrupt. That goes for the Supreme Court on down. They are a disgrace to the robe that they wear and don't defend them Bernie because you know it is true. When it comes to politics are judicial system sucks including the judges.
The election has been certified. How can that change? If counting the flawed ballots change the results, that will trigger lawsuits by those who lost. They will rightly claim that Northampton County certified the election.
We can't have this kind of nonsense in all our elections at every level of government. The state needs to tighten up th system and make the rule consistent across the state.
11:28, 6:09, 3:20
So far as I know, no one is maintaining that unsigned ballots should count. Signing a voter's declaration is no mere technicality. But dating the ballot is a technicality. You could argue, as Lee Snover did, that it is a cross check on the requirement the ballot be received by 8 pm on election day. But so long as the ballot is received by 8 pm, and the elections office can itself verify that it was timely received, my view personally is that the ballot should be counted. This is consistent with a strong public policy in favor of voter enfranchisement.
Despite my personal view, I believe it is a mistake to count undated ballots. The law is not what I think it is, but is what five Supreme Court justices think it should be on any given day. Four Supreme Court justices think they should be counted. Four don't. The ninth, Justice Wecht, went along with undated ballots in the last election, but made clear in his concurring opinion that he would oppose acceptance of undated ballots in future races. So it's a pointless exercise to insist on counting undated verifications.
In addition to being pointless, it is untimely in Pa. I believe the time to object to MIBs has passed. I may be wrong on that latter point.
Bernie, much of your analysis is insightful and well-taken. But I see two errors in your take on these issues:
"Last year, [the Election Commission] refused to approve epollbooks before the Presidential primary. This would have made an election impossible because the county was unable to obtain paper poll books. This refusal was a direct violation of their mandate to administer the conduct of elections. Instead of administering an election, they were preventing it from taking place."
This is factually incorrect. The refusal to approve epollbooks would not have "made an election impossible." There were proposals for paper pollbooks that the administration claimed would not meet the deadline due to the short window between last-minute registrations and the election. But it was pointed out 1) that other counties were still using paper pollbooks and 2) it would be quite possible to print paper pollbooks earlier than the deadline, then print (likely rather short) supplements accounting for any last-minute voter registrations. Understandably, supporters of the administration claimed that this would be an expensive, a headache, an administrative difficulty, etc. But it was certainly a possibility. So to say the Election Commission violated its duty to administer the election is simply false. The Election Commission's decision weighed a balance of factors (cost, efficiency at the polls, security, the possibility of technological malfunction, etc.) an made a decision. Your characterization of this is one-sided and inaccurate.
"Commissioner DeVito has now three times pointed out that, in the past, the Elections Comm'n has hired its own Registrar. He is correct, but the Elections Comm'n was simply ratifying a choice already made by the administration. Under the Charter, the administration hires and fires."
That is mostly true, but there is a factual oversight. We agree that the administration hires and fires. But in the past, the Election Commission was not "simply ratifying a choice already made by the administration." Several candidates were brought before the Commission, questioned, vetted, and voted on. The Commission voted on its choice and the administration hired the Commission's choice for the job. The administration selected the candidates to be brought before the Commission, but the Commission made the decision, not the administration.
I'll stand by what I wrote.
With respect to paper books, it simply would have been impossible to prepare them in time. That is what elections comm'rs were told by the people on the front lines - the elections workers. Even if this could have happened, it would have added much more pressure and stress to an office already over-burdened with implementing new rules. It would have been practically impossible to conduct an election. It was the biggest mistake it could have made. If the elections office worked 24 hours, they might have been able to cobble together its own pollbooks, but they would have been done poorly and would have been a disaster at the polls. The elections office was pretty clear that it needed epollbooks. On top of that, epollbooks are infinitely better than paper pollbooks. I have worked with both. The epollbooks are extremely accurate, easy to use and make voter check-in much quicker. The switch, however, was no matter of convenience.It was a mattter of necessity. The county's long-time printer emailed to say it was unable to do the job. Its email was provided to the EC.
With respect to past registrars, the EC may have talked to several candidates, but were going with the choice already made by the admin. The EC should have no say in the hiring or firing of elections workers, nor should it have final in the selection of voting systems bc any expenditure of public funds should be made by county council.
But it is no merely advisory body. I does administer the elections, and the EC should have final say on drop box hours or whether they are needed at all.
What's unfortunate is that the powers are not spelled out clearly in the HRC. They should be clarified. The EC is essential to a core function of county government and should both safeguard the right to vote and do everything it can to insure voter confidence in the process. With the exception of what really was a terribly irresponsible decision concerning epollbooks, I think the EC has acted in the best interests of the county and its voters.
Let me add that I have been an epollbook advocate for several years. The administration was opposed to them bc, although they are Dems, they are still cheap bastards, lol. Stubborn, too. If there was any way they could have obtained quality paper pollbooks that actually worked, they would have done so. They only decided to get them bc it was absolutely necessary. These are full-time people who explored all the options. Believe me, they would have loved
In fairness, The EC just did not trust the admin at the time bc of the debacle with the ExpressVote XL rollout, which was subsequently fixed. But even the ExpressVote XL proved itself.
I haven't checked lately, however, the last time I looked at the election code it addressed the "Home Rule County Issue" The Election Commission is supposed to tell the administration what the election is going to cost and the administration is supposed to budget for that amount. Also the hiring of personnel according to the "law" is a function of the Elections Commission. The Administration should make available to them the hiring process outlined in the Career Services and Home Rule Charter, but the Elections Commission is supposed to hire their own personnel and the Director of Elections is supposed to work for the Election Commission not the incumbent County Officials.
Have a very nice and Happy Thanksgiving. You are indeed a County Treasure.
I believe I'm viewed more like a county curse, lol.
I have looked at the Elections Code and Home Rule Charter and believe my interpretation is the most accurate. I say I "believe" bc there is no judicial guidance. My interpretation is that the Administration hires and fires. This is consistent with an intent to stop the creation of little fiefdoms (and cronyism) that exists under county code government. My interpretation is that the County Council makes the purchases. That branch of government, which technically is the most powerful and has all residual powers, controls the purse. Finally, my interpretation is that the EC makes all decisions concerning the actual conduct of an election, from drop boxes to polling locations to disputed ballots. In that regard, I think the EC should probably delegate some of its authority to the Registrar so it does not have to meet every three seconds. This would conform to current practice, in which the full-time Registrar selects polling places and does a myriad of other things to make elections run smoothly. My suggestion is that the EC do so formally.
I am reading the EC in conjunction with the Charter. If your interpretation differs, I would like to know where these recent changes in the Election Code are located. Ido not see them.
County Council is not the most powerful it is obvious the County Executive is th most powerful. The council knows nothing not told to them by the executive or one of his minions. Stop spreading nonsense. Time to change the one-man rule charter, that is the real problem.
County Council is the most powerful branch of government. Its powers are clearly delineated in the HRC and it actually is granted all residuary powers in the HRC. Unfortunately, and this is what has happened on every level of government, legislatures all too often abdicate their roles in favor of the Exec branch. Thus we have Presidents who sign exec orders improperly, Governors who refuse to relinquish emergency powers and execs and mayors who will always try to increase their powers. This problem has nothing to do with the HRC and everything to do with legislative abdication.
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