Candidate's Nomination Petitions Under Court Rulings

Tribune Review Report

Fayette Co. woman admits to forging signatures
By Chris Foreman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, March 17, 2007

A Fayette County woman admitted in court Friday she forged three signatures on what she later learned was a nominating petition for Democratic county controller candidate Sean Lally.
"I was told to get somebody out of the courthouse that was stealing money," Annette Flora, of Masontown, testified at a hearing challenging hundreds of Lally's signatures.

Mark Roberts, the two-term Democratic incumbent, claims Lally's petitions are plagued by irregularities.

Yesterday, Judge Steve Leskinen struck 15 names from the petitions, including four based on Flora's testimony.

Flora's name was removed because she is a registered Republican, while the names of her boyfriend, son and boyfriend's mother were eliminated because they were forgeries.

Flora repeatedly apologized on the witness stand, and Leskinen said she wouldn't face any penalty for the forgeries.

She claimed Kathy Winkler, a Lally supporter, gave her the petition...

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