Net the Truth Online
Violation of PA Sunshine Law in Election Board Meeting
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VotePA/message/4679
Asking the questions for input here in hopes someone can answer before the Fayette Election Board holds an announced and advertised meeting next week.
Was the Fayette Election Board 'emergency meeting' held Election eve (Tues. May 18, 2010) (at an unknown time but prior to 11 pm) to determine what to do after an election judge mistakenly handed out two ballots to Primary voters registered as Republican and Democrat (special election ballots intended for registered Independents in addition to Primary election ballots which included the special election contest) in violation of the Pennsylvania Sunshine Law?
Who has the power to convene a meeting of the Election Board, without public notification, and who is able to attend the emergency meeting? And can an "investigation" be ordered within the emergency meeting that was unadvertised? And when did the "investigation" begin such as during the emergency meeting? Were any paper ballots reviewed during the emergency meeting?
It's unclear whether lawyers for all the candidates in the special election were informed of the situation that had occurred in the one local precinct and were invited to the unannounced emergency meeting and did or did not attend such an emergency meeting of the Election Board.
What action was taken after 1 PM regarding the eScan voting system upon notification of the situation by the precinct Election Judge?
Was the eScan decommissioned and/or reset or both? What happened to the memory card?
How is it possible 3 different news articles are at variance on the number of voters who may have voted twice in the special election contest? Are at variance on the number of duplicate paper ballots, etc.
And where are the accurate numbers for how many voters the eScan private voter count recorded as utilizing the eScan prior to the error of duplicate ballots being discovered?
Thank you for any help you can provide. Any recommendations on whether or not there are grounds to proceed would be appreciated.
PA Citizen Mom
Note: the following PA Independent article dated May 18, 2010 175 People Voted Twice in Fayette County was available the eve of the Election (via grassrootspa link) and did not include mention that an emergency Fayette Election Board meeting had been held Tuesday ... unknown time... the article quotes the election board solictor who says a meeting of the Election Board will be held...
No announcement is made that an emergency meeting will be held Tuesday, Election Day. In addition, the PA Independent article entitled 175 People Voted Twice in Fayete County notes comment by the director of the Fayette Election Bureau regarding how the situation was handled after it was discovered:
After realizing she had made a mistake, Ms. Lilley contacted Larry Blosser, the director of the Fayette County Election Bureau, who told her to secure all the ballots that had been cast and re-set the electronic voting machines.
"We've secured the ballots that were voted on the e-scan machine," said Sheryl Heid, election bureau solicitor for Fayette County. "We're going to hold them separately and the election board will hold a meeting to decide what to do with them."
http://paindependent.com/todays_news/detail/175-people-voted-twice-in-fayette-county
Meanwhile, the Tribune Review article includes mention on Wed. May 19, 2010 in the topic sentence that Fayette County Commissioners and Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy Vernon convened an emergency meeting last night ...
The interesting thing is one of the 3 county commissioners was not a member of the election board as he was seeking a slot on the Dem. Party Committee... a local attorney had been appointed to serve on the Election Board for the time being. It is unclear then if the full election board met with the attorney or without, or whether two county commissioners and Judge Vernon convened the meeting.
The title of the Trib article is also notable: Duplicate Ballots Investigated
Meanwhile, in its article on the matter published May 19, 2010, the Herald Standard article includes mention of the meeting which was "called" wherein presumably, Judge Nancy Vernon"ordered a count of the of paper ballots cast at one North Union Township precinct late Tuesday to determine how many voters potentially cast more than one ballot for the special election for the 12th Congressional District."
It is astonishing that 3 different articles over the course of a day issue far different numbers about how many people may have voted twice, or cast duplicate votes, or however the situation is worded.
Who issued the information to the three different news outlets and why is there a discrepancy of numbers from the very beginning and including follow-up articles published Thursday, May 20, 2010?
It would be too confusing to post the May 20 articles... so here are these...
PA Citizen Mom
175 People Voted Twice in Fayette County
Poll worker mistakenly gave voters two ballots
MAY 18, 2010 | by ERIC BOEHMA mistake at a polling place in Fayette County allowed 175 people to double-vote this morning in the special election for the Pennsylvania 12th Congressional district.
Amber Lilley, judge of elections at the North Union Township fourth precinct, said she mistakenly thought she was supposed to give out two ballots to each individual in her precinct during today's election because the election served as both a primary election and a special election to fill the Congressional seat vacated by the death of John Murtha.
"There were paper ballots, and there were ballots just for the independent voters for the special election, and my understanding, which was mistaken, was that those were special ballots for the special election," she said.
Ms. Lilley said she eventually realized her mistake, but by then 178 people had already voted. Of that total, 120 were Republicans, 55 were Democrats, and three were Independents.
Because of her mistake, the 175 Republicans and Democrats were able to vote twice, once on their full ballot that included the primary and special election, and once on the special election ballot that was supposed to be used only for independent voters.
After realizing she had made a mistake, Ms. Lilley contacted Larry Blosser, the director of the Fayette County Election Bureau, who told her to secure all the ballots that had been cast and re-set the electronic voting machines.
"We've secured the ballots that were voted on the e-scan machine," said Sheryl Heid, election bureau solicitor for Fayette County. "We're going to hold them separately and the election board will hold a meeting to decide what to do with them."
Ms. Lilley said she was elected to the position of election supervisor in November and was not even aware she had won the election until February. Though she took responsibility for the mix-up, she said her training consisted of little more than watching some videos and basic directions from the state Election Commission.
Ms. Lilley is registered as a Democrat, but a Republican poll watcher was also present at the location throughout the day. Ms. Lilley said the poll watcher also misunderstood the directions on the ballot.
The special election in the 12th Congressional district is between Democrat Mark Critz, Republican Tim Burns, and Libertarian Demo Agoris.
Eric Boehm is a reporter for PA Independent. He can be reached at Eric@PAIndependent.com
http://paindependent.com/todays_news/detail/175-people-voted-twice-in-fayette-county
Duplicate ballots investigated
By Rich Cholodofsky
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Fayette County commissioners and Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy Vernon convened an emergency meeting last night to decide how to handle possible duplicate ballots cast by voters in one Uniontown area precinct.
Elections officials said that voters using paper ballots early in the day at the North Union VFW were erroneously given two ballots to cast, a situation that may skew results in the special election between Democrat Mark Critz and Republican Tim Burns to fill the remainder of the 12th Congressional District term of the late Rep. John Murtha.
Fayette County Elections Bureau solicitor Sheryl Heid said the elections board was still meeting at 11 p.m. and had not reached a decision about how the ballots would be counted.
As many as 223 voters may have cast duplicate ballots, Heid said
The voting error occurred when a first-time judge of elections erroneously passed out two sets of paper ballots to voters until about 1:15 p.m.
Fayette County voters have the option of casting votes on an electronic machine or on paper ballots. Heid said that Democrat and Republican voters were given primary ballots as well as a secondary paper ballot for the special election that was only to be passed out to independent voters who cannot participate in the primary.
Although those duplicate votes were scanned and tabulated, they were immediately removed from the tallies, Heid said.
"We've taken steps to isolate the votes," Heid said.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/fayette/s_681829.html
Judge orders count of paper ballots after possible duplicate votes
May 19, 2010 01:32 AM
TEXT SIZE
By: AMY REVAK
Fayette County Judge Nancy D. Vernon ordered a count of paper ballots cast at one North Union Township precinct late Tuesday to determine how many voters potentially cast more than one ballot for the special election for the 12th Congressional District.
A hearing on the issue was called after it was discovered that Judge of Elections Amber Lilley had handed out duplicate paper ballots for the special election, according to Sheryl Heid, solicitor for the Fayette County Election Bureau.
The mistake was discovered and corrected after 178 people had voted at the North Union Township No. 4 polling place, and the machine was shut down after 223 people had voted. Because voters have the option of either using the e-Slate electronic voting machine or using a paper ballot that is scanned on the e-Scan machine, it was unknown exactly how many voters used paper ballots, and therefore could have overvoted, Heid said.
Heid explained that Lilley handed out two paper ballots to each of those voting at the polling place, which could have led to some people voting twice in the special election.
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The special election includes the Democratic candidate Mark Critz, the Republican candidate Tim Burns and the Libertarian candidate Demo Agoris. Heid said the Democratic and Republican ballots had the special election listed on them, and the other ballots that listed only the special election should have only gone to voters of other political parties. She said three people in other parties voted in the precinct, all by paper ballot.
Larry Blosser, head of the election bureau, said a count of the paper ballots could be made to determine how many people possibly voted twice for the special election.
Vernon ordered the election board, which includes Commissioners Vincent Zapotosky and Angela M. Zimmerlink and attorney Mark Mehalov, along with attorney James T. Davis, representing Critz and attorney Gary Altman, representating Burns, to count the ballots and then report to court, when she would make a decision.
The count and decision were unavailable late Tuesday.
http://www.heraldstandard.com/news_detail/article/1220/2010/may/19/judge-orders-count-of-paper-ballots-after-possible-duplicate-votes.html
Still astonishing and unexplained how different news reports can contain such a difference of how many voters used the eScan voting system in Fayette County in one local precinct where an election judge admittedly made an error and handed Primary voters registered as Republican or Democrat two ballots for the District 12 Special Election contest...
Also unclear: How were attorneys for candidates informed of the emergency meeting of the Election Board which was convened on Tuesday May 18, 2010 when the public was not informed so the public could attend? And is convening the emergency meeting without notification to the public a violation of the state's PA Sunshine Laws?
Herald-Standard May 20, 2010
During a hearing Tuesday night, Vernon ordered that the election board, which includes Commissioners Vincent Zapotosky and Angela M. Zimmerlink as well as attorney Mark Mehalov, along with attorney James T. Davis, representing the Democratic Party and the Mark Critz campaign and attorney Gary Altman, representing the Republican Party and the Tim Burns campaign, to make an official tabulation of the paper ballots.
http://www.heraldstandard.com/news_detail/article/1631/2010/may/20/fayette-ballot-snafu-probed.html
PA Citizen Mom
Fayette ballot snafu probed
May 20, 2010 01:20 AM
TEXT SIZE 
By: AMY REVAK
Herald Standard
The fate of dozens of extra ballots incorrectly cast at one Fayette County precinct for the special election for the 12th Congressional District will be decided by the Fayette County Election Board and then returned to the court of Judge Nancy D. Vernon.
The mistake, which was halted after nearly 100 voters cast paper ballots at the North Union Township Precinct 4 polling place, occurred when first-time Judge of Elections Amber Lilley incorrectly handed out duplicate ballots for the special election.
Only members of political parties other than Democratic or Republican were supposed to receive a ballot with only the special election candidates on it. However, Lilley handed out both the separate sheet with the special election candidates and the Democratic and Republican ballots, which also had the special election candidates on it, to all voters.
During a hearing Tuesday night, Vernon ordered that the election board, which includes Commissioners Vincent Zapotosky and Angela M. Zimmerlink as well as attorney Mark Mehalov, along with attorney James T. Davis, representing the Democratic Party and the Mark Critz campaign and attorney Gary Altman, representing the Republican Party and the Tim Burns campaign, to make an official tabulation of the paper ballots.
Critz defeated Burns by more than 10,000 votes throughout the district, according to unofficial results. A third candidate, Libertarian Demo Agoris finished a very distant third.
The count of the paper ballots cast at the precinct was made after 10 p.m. and then returned to Vernon, who ruled that the election board make a further determination of the paper ballots in question and return to Vernon for further consideration.
Zapotosky said Wednesday that a review of the paper ballots in question revealed that a total of 93 Republicans and Democrats were given duplicate ballots for the special election and three people of other parties also were given ballots.
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Zapotosky said, upon reviewing the ballots, it was determined that all the Democrats and Republicans voted on both the ballot they were supposed to use and the extra ballot. A determination must be made on what to do with the extra ballots, which would include three that were cast by people of other parties. There is no way to know which candidate or candidates the voters selected.
Zapotosky said there was not one "under vote," meaning that every voter that was given two ballots voted for the special election on each of them.
He said the election board will likely meet next week to determine how to handle the ballots in question.
Zapotosky said there should not have been a special election on the day of the primary.
"Under normal circumstance, the error wouldn't happen," Zapotosky said. "Special elections are just that - special. It was confusing and it should be about preserving the integrity of the process even if it costs extra money."
Gov. Ed Rendell decided to hold the special election on the same day as the primary to save money.
The special election was necessitated by the unexpected death of U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, earlier this year. Critz formerly worked for Murtha.
The district includes all of Greene County and portions of eight other counties, including Fayette.
Larry Blosser, director of the Fayette County election bureau, said having a special election on the same day as a primary hasn't occurred since he has worked for the county election bureau since 1984.
Blosser said that Tuesday was "just a hectic day for the judge (of elections)."
http://www.heraldstandard.com/news_detail/article/1631/2010/may/20/fayette-ballot-snafu-probed.html
Notice the Tribune's lead sentence. When did Judge Nancy Vernon order the county election board to determine anything? Was it Tuesday May 18, 2010 during the emergency meeting of the Election Board (which was not announced publicly)?
Was the order verbally issued during the Tues. May 18, 2010 emergency meeting of the Election Board and then drawn up the next day?
What are the legalities of a hearing of the Election Board or meeting whichever is accurate as there is a discrepancy in the news reports occurring with only representatives of some candidates in the special election being present and not others? What are the legalities of same as above when the public is not apprised of the emergency meeting before the meeting occurs and within the specified requirements of the PA Sunshine Law, and etc.
Note the discrepancy in the two articles about this:
Tribune Review "...as not all Democratic and Republican voters handed the duplicate form cast two votes. "
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/fayette/s_682079.html
Herald Standard "...it was determined that all the Democrats and Republicans voted on both the ballot they were supposed to use and the extra ballot."
http://www.heraldstandard.com/news_detail/article/1631/2010/may/20/fayette-ballot-snafu-probed.html
Which is it. Did all Democrats and Republicans handed the duplicate form cast two votes, or not all Democrats and Republicans handed both ballots voted both ballots?
It's one or the other, isn't it? Why is the Fayette Election Board Chairman, Vincent Zapotosky stating something obviously at variance with what Board Solicitor Sheryl Heid states? Who is correct?
And note the discrepancies in the amount of Republican and Democrat voters
93 Republicans and Democrats
Zapotosky said Wednesday that a review of the paper ballots in question revealed that a total of 93 Republicans and Democrats were given duplicate ballots for the special election and three people of other parties also were given ballots.
http://www.heraldstandard.com/news_detail/article/1631/2010/may/20/fayette-ballot-snafu-probed.html
Oops, not according to Solicitor Heid in the Tribune article - more than 93 ballots were handed out a combine 64 Democrats and 33 Republicans with 93 of the 97 being voted.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/fayette/s_682079.html
Were any determinations made during the emergency meeting of the Election Board Tuesday May 18, 2010? Who was present?
PA Citizen Mom
Herald Standard
Zapotosky said Wednesday that a review of the paper ballots in question revealed that a total of 93 Republicans and Democrats were given duplicate ballots for the special election and three people of other parties also were given ballots.
Zapotosky said, upon reviewing the ballots, it was determined that all the Democrats and Republicans voted on both the ballot they were supposed to use and the extra ballot. A determination must be made on what to do with the extra ballots, which would include three that were cast by people of other parties. There is no way to know which candidate or candidates the voters selected.
Zapotosky said there was not one "under vote," meaning that every voter that was given two ballots voted for the special election on each of them.
http://www.heraldstandard.com/news_detail/article/1631/2010/may/20/fayette-ballot-snafu-probed.html
Tribune Review
Election bureau Solicitor Sheryl Heid said the mistake was discovered after a first-time judge of elections at the North Union VFW passed out Democratic, Republican and non-party paper ballots to 64 Democrats, 33 Republicans and three other voters registered as independent or with no party affiliation.
Heid said it appears that 93 non-party paper ballots were incorrectly cast, as not all Democratic and Republican voters handed the duplicate form cast two votes.
Only the three non-party voters should have been given that particular ballot, as the general primary ballot included the special election.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/fayette/s_682079.html
PA Citizen Mom
Report ordered on Fayette ballot mix-up
By Mary Pickels
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Fayette County Judge Nancy Vernon on Wednesday ordered the county election board to determine the proper number of votes cast for candidates in the special election in the 12th Congressional District and to determine if some votes were duplicated with paper ballots.
The board must file a report on its final determination with the judge.
Vernon's order followed an emergency meeting convened after Tuesday's primary, after it was learned that more than 90 voters using paper ballots early in the day at one North Union precinct were erroneously given two ballots to cast in the special election among Democrat Mark Critz, Republican Tim Burns and Libertarian Demo Agoris to fill the remainder of the late John Murtha's term.
Burns conceded victory to Critz on Tuesday night.
Election bureau Solicitor Sheryl Heid said the mistake was discovered after a first-time judge of elections at the North Union VFW passed out Democratic, Republican and non-party paper ballots to 64 Democrats, 33 Republicans and three other voters registered as independent or with no party affiliation.
Heid said it appears that 93 non-party paper ballots were incorrectly cast, as not all Democratic and Republican voters handed the duplicate form cast two votes.
Only the three non-party voters should have been given that particular ballot, as the general primary ballot included the special election.
Fayette County voters have the option of casting votes on an electronic machine or on paper ballots.
After Tuesday's discovery, the e-Scan paper ballot and e-Slate electronic voting machines at that precinct were replaced and voting continued.
"We literally have all of those pieces of paper," Heid said yesterday.
The paper ballots were scanned and secured before being delivered by the sheriff's department to the election bureau, Heid said.
"The seal was broken only at the judge's order," Heid said. "We preserved the ballots to preserve the integrity of the election."
Possible duplicate votes have not yet been included in the final tallies, Heid said.
Paper votes cast by those individuals for all other open positions will be included in the final tally.
"Everything except for their vote for the 12th Congressional District," Heid said. "Those are the only votes that will not be added in at this point."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/fayette/s_682079.html
Fayette ballot snafu probed
May 20, 2010 01:20 AM
TEXT SIZE
By: AMY REVAK
Herald Standard
The fate of dozens of extra ballots incorrectly cast at one Fayette County precinct for the special election for the 12th Congressional District will be decided by the Fayette County Election Board and then returned to the court of Judge Nancy D. Vernon.
The mistake, which was halted after nearly 100 voters cast paper ballots at the North Union Township Precinct 4 polling place, occurred when first-time Judge of Elections Amber Lilley incorrectly handed out duplicate ballots for the special election.
Only members of political parties other than Democratic or Republican were supposed to receive a ballot with only the special election candidates on it. However, Lilley handed out both the separate sheet with the special election candidates and the Democratic and Republican ballots, which also had the special election candidates on it, to all voters.
During a hearing Tuesday night, Vernon ordered that the election board, which includes Commissioners Vincent Zapotosky and Angela M. Zimmerlink as well as attorney Mark Mehalov, along with attorney James T. Davis, representing the Democratic Party and the Mark Critz campaign and attorney Gary Altman, representing the Republican Party and the Tim Burns campaign, to make an official tabulation of the paper ballots.
Critz defeated Burns by more than 10,000 votes throughout the district, according to unofficial results. A third candidate, Libertarian Demo Agoris finished a very distant third.
The count of the paper ballots cast at the precinct was made after 10 p.m. and then returned to Vernon, who ruled that the election board make a further determination of the paper ballots in question and return to Vernon for further consideration.
Zapotosky said Wednesday that a review of the paper ballots in question revealed that a total of 93 Republicans and Democrats were given duplicate ballots for the special election and three people of other parties also were given ballots.
Zapotosky said, upon reviewing the ballots, it was determined that all the Democrats and Republicans voted on both the ballot they were supposed to use and the extra ballot. A determination must be made on what to do with the extra ballots, which would include three that were cast by people of other parties. There is no way to know which candidate or candidates the voters selected.
Zapotosky said there was not one "under vote," meaning that every voter that was given two ballots voted for the special election on each of them.
He said the election board will likely meet next week to determine how to handle the ballots in question.
Zapotosky said there should not have been a special election on the day of the primary.
"Under normal circumstance, the error wouldn't happen," Zapotosky said. "Special elections are just that - special. It was confusing and it should be about preserving the integrity of the process even if it costs extra money."
Gov. Ed Rendell decided to hold the special election on the same day as the primary to save money.
The special election was necessitated by the unexpected death of U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, earlier this year. Critz formerly worked for Murtha.
The district includes all of Greene County and portions of eight other counties, including Fayette.
Larry Blosser, director of the Fayette County election bureau, said having a special election on the same day as a primary hasn't occurred since he has worked for the county election bureau since 1984.
Blosser said that Tuesday was "just a hectic day for the judge (of elections)."
http://www.heraldstandard.com/news_detail/article/1631/2010/may/20/fayette-ballot-snafu-probed.html
See Vote PA Message Board
Fayette Election Voter Count Different per Reports
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VotePA/message/4680
More
To clarify, if the Dem and Rep votes were the same on both and accounted for, as
suggested, the 3 Indie votes could be determined. If they are the same as well,
let's say the Independent candidate is chosen, then it becomes known how 3
identifiable voters voted.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VotePA/message/4684
Re: Fayette Election Voter Count Different per Reports
Thanks for your input, Joy. The privacy of individual voters cannot be
compromised though. so no method can be employed which could determine in any
way how 3 out of any number of votes were cast in an election.
In fact, that's why I'm puzzling over the discrepancy between what the Chairman
of the Election Board states as noted below, not to repeat, and what the
Solicitor of the Board allows, there were undervotes according to the Solicitor.
Only if there were undervoted ballots among the non-Party ballots could it never
be determined how any of the 3 Independents voted.
Because if all Republicans and Democrats who received both ballots, voted both
ballots, then a comparison as you suggest be made, could be made, and it might
be very possible if the 3 independents' votes could be segregated and all the
same, to determine how they voted.
Thanks though
PA Citizen Mom
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VotePA/message/4683
The previous was a reply to poster at Vote PA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VotePA/message/4681
