Luzerne County’s Election Board will unseal and tally 12 provisional ballots on Friday in the tight Republican race for state representative in the 117th Legislative District, county Assistant Solicitor Gene Molino said Tuesday afternoon.
These ballots had been set aside until appeals on others in the batch were exhausted, but Molino said an agreement was reached that will allow the 12 to be tallied Friday even though an appeal of two others has been announced.
Specifically, Molino said both candidates — incumbent Michael Cabell and Jamie Walsh —have agreed to stipulations that they won’t be contesting the 12 and have no objection to tallying the 12.
Friday’s public board adjudication meeting will be at 9:30 a.m. in Room 301 at the county’s Penn Place Building on the corner of Market Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre.
The 12 ballots could determine the unofficial winner because the candidates are currently three votes apart, with Walsh in the lead.
Walsh announced Tuesday morning he is appealing a ruling over the remaining two provisional ballots to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
He is contesting a Commonwealth Court decision granting incumbent opponent Cabell’s appeal to count a Butler Township ballot cast by Cabell’s cousin, Shane O’Donnell, and reject a ballot cast by Lake Township voter Timothy J. Wagner.
Cabell’s legal counsel had argued the ballot of O’Donnell, Cabell’s cousin, should be counted because he did not officially relocate to McAdoo borough in Schuylkill County until March 29, and there is a 30-day window to vote at a prior residence preceding an election.
Luzerne County’s Election Board had rejected O’Donnell’s ballot as part of a batch from people not registered to vote in the county, and a three-judge Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas panel agreed with the board’s decision. However, a three-judge Commonwealth Court panel said O’Donnell’s ballot must be accepted, saying the facts show O’Donnell would not have been permitted to vote in McAdoo because he did not reside there at least 30 days preceding the election.
Cabell argued Wagner’s provisional ballot should not be counted because he did not sign the outer envelope a second time when handing it in at the polling place.
A Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas judge panel had affirmed the county’s election board’s decision to count Wagner’s ballot, saying the Pennsylvania Supreme Court “has repeatedly recognized the need to construe the Election Code liberally in favor of enfranchisement where fraud is not an issue and a voter’s intent is clear.”
Two of the Commonwealth Court judges — a majority — said the acceptance of Wagner’s ballot must be reversed due to the mandatory signature requirement in state law. The remaining judge dissented, citing Wagner’s “exceedingly clear” electoral intent and the state Supreme Court’s recent reinforcement of a long-standing principle that the election code should be liberally construed in election appeals “so as to not deprive electors of their right to elect a candidate of their choice.”
Walsh said Tuesday he feels a sense of duty to appeal to the state Supreme Court, which will have discretion over whether it agrees to take on the case.
“I am filing an appeal to the PA Supreme Court challenging the disenfranchising of a resident’s ballot and the improper tabulation of a non-resident ballot,” Walsh said.
Walsh said his appeal will be handled by his new legal counsel, Lititz-based Attorney J. Chadwick Schnee, of Schnee Legal Services. He expects the appeal will be filed by the end of business Wednesday.
He had held off on commenting about the Commonwealth Court ruling issued last week until he had an opportunity to meet with legal counsel and said he is now ready to offer his assessment:
“I felt that the Commonwealth Court erred on both decisions, where in one breath the Commonwealth Court said it didn’t want to disenfranchise anyone and then disenfranchised Mr. Wagner,” Walsh said.
Cabell has not yet issued a statement on the appeals.
It’s expected O’Donnell’s vote was for Cabell, while Wagner has stated he selected Walsh.
Most Popular
Comments / 0