Balavage Stays on L-L Board As Improper Vote Count is Corrected: The Luzerne County Election Board Wants to Know How Its Name Ended Up on a Petition.
By Jennifer Learn-Andes, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader
Dec. 22–A transcription error led the Luzerne County Election Board to certify the wrong winner in the Lake-Lehman School Board race, requiring some scrambling to fix the problem.
Republican candidate Charles H. Crane got credit for 377 Harveys Lake votes in the official count paperwork, rather than the 277 he was marked as receiving on a different breakdown sheet.
That means Democrat Charles J. Balavage should be certified the winner, Election Bureau Director Leonard Piazza said during Wednesday’s board meeting.
At the board’s direction, Piazza rechecked the machines and verified that Balavage should have been declared the winner.
Piazza said he’ll issue a certificate to Balavage as winner, and revoke the one given to Crane.
Piazza said Balavage notified him last week about the error.
Neither Balavage nor Crane could be reached for comment Wednesday.
Balavage, an incumbent, took the oath of office earlier this month, knowing that the result was incorrect. It’s not clear why he was allowed to take the oath without an election certificate.
Piazza said Wednesday he contacted the school district about the matter so the solicitor can determine if another oath must be administered to Balavage, and whether any recent school board votes cast by Balavage must be revoked.
Piazza attributed the mistake to “human error.”
“Certainly it’s something that will be done away with now that we’re going to be using electronic machines,” Piazza said after the meeting.
Election board Chairman Todd Vonderheid said Jan. 15 is the county’s “drop dead” date to pick the electronic voting machines to be used in the 2006 primary election.
A selection panel recently recommended a model manufactured by Danaher Industrial Controls that allows voters to see the entire ballot at once, rather than scrolling through several screens.
Piazza said he still wants to round up election night workers to count results at the courthouse, but they’ll probably focus on tallying write-in votes because election bureau employees will retrieve and release the computerized results.
In other business Wednesday, Vonderheid and board member Greg Skrepenak voted to use subpoena power to seek an explanation from Denise Carey on why she wrote the words “Luzerne County Board of Elections” on top of her petition regarding a city home rule charter amendment.
Skrepenak and Vonderheid said it made the document look like county letterhead, and Carey’s lawyer referred to it as letterhead.
Board member Stephen A. Urban disagrees with the subpoena, saying there was no county seal or deceptive intent.
“I see no basis for harassing this lady,” Urban said. He accused the other two of “playing into the hand” of city officials who want to make Carey pay for attempting to change the city’s home rule charter. Such actions intimidate people, making them “fearful” of government with an “iron hand” and “unlimited resources” to battle in court, he said.
Skrepenak and Vonderheid said they simply want an explanation, and Carey won’t respond.
Wilkes-Barre resident Tim Grier also asked the board Wednesday if it plans to proceed with an action against him.
The board said the matter rests with District Attorney Dave Lupas.
The board earlier this month voted to ask Lupas to file a misdemeanor charge against Grier, of Wilkes-Barre, for remaining in a voting booth for 30 minutes as a protest on Nov. 8. The board believes he violated the Election Code by willfully disobeying orders of election officials.
Grier has said he stayed behind the curtains to protest an unfair electoral process that makes it too difficult for independent and third-party candidates to get on the ballot. He denies he was ordered to leave.
Jennifer Learn-Andes, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7333.
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