Could a special election be called for the Greene commissioners race?
Greene County may need to hold a special election before the end of the year if the commissioners race is too close to call following the error on mail-in and absentee ballots giving voters the wrong instructions on how many candidates to choose.
The issue stems from the mistake discovered last weekend on those ballots that incorrectly tells people to vote for three candidates out of the four choices, when they should only vote for two. With just a few days before the Nov. 7 election, it鈥檚 too late to fix the error.
鈥淭he worst case scenario is that we would have to conduct another election for commissioners,鈥� county solicitor Robert 鈥淕ene鈥� Grimm said Wednesday during the elections board鈥檚 special meeting.
But even so, it could take more than six weeks before a special election would happen, jeopardizing the makeup of the board that is supposed to be seated in early January. Grimm said he鈥檚 not sure what may trigger a special election, whether it鈥檚 a demand from the losing candidate or a decision by county elections officials if they feel the process was too problematic to be certified.
鈥淲e have to make this election count to the best of our ability,鈥� Grimm said.
To try and avoid a special election, county officials sent out letters Tuesday to the nearly 2,000 people who requested the mail-in ballots informing them of the issue and ways they can rectify the problem. Another 1,200 emails were also sent out to voters who registered their addresses when they applied for their mail-in ballot.
Voters who only selected two candidates for county commissioner don鈥檛 need to do anything, but those who voted for three 鈥� as the instructions erroneously told them they could do 鈥� now have two options. They can either go to the elections office inside the county building at 93 E. High St. in Waynesburg and have their mail-in ballot 鈥渟poiled鈥� in order to vote again on a new one, or they can vote on a provisional ballot at their local polling place on election day. The elections office has extended its hours this week and will be open over the weekend and later than usual on Monday to help people make corrections, if needed.
A dozen people attended the special election board meeting at the Greene County Fairgrounds for an update on where the process stands and how voters are being informed about the problem.
Democrats Blair Zimmerman and Christine 鈥淐hris鈥� Bailey are running against Republicans Betsy Rohanna McClure and Jared Edgreen for three seats on the board of commissioners. Zimmerman and Rohanna McClure, both of whom are county commissioners but aren鈥檛 on the elections board since they鈥檙e running for reelection, attended Wednesday鈥檚 meeting, along with several other residents who had harsh words for county officials.
Commission Chairman Mike Belding, who leads the elections board since he is not running for reelection, is not sure how the mistake happened, especially after it was reviewed by him and the board鈥檚 other two members 鈥� Larry Stratton and Michael Lubich 鈥� and the previous elections director.
鈥淗ow it got there, we have no idea or when it got changed,鈥� Belding said, adding that he doesn鈥檛 believe there will be an issue with the vote count. 鈥淚 think from talking to a lot of people who sent (their ballots) in, they only chose two candidates because that was their habit.鈥�
He added that the error with the commissioners race was on the original ballot, which also mistakenly included both magistrate races for all voters, but none of the 1,200 people who received them noticed the issue the first time around. Those ballots were recalled and the new ones with the mistake still on the commissioners race were sent out to voters.
鈥淒on鈥檛 blame the people,鈥� said Edward Petsonk of Mt. Morris.
鈥淚鈥檓 not making an excuse,鈥� Belding said, adding that it鈥檚 ultimately the election board鈥檚 responsibility to make sure the ballots are correct. 鈥淵eah, I鈥檒l take 100% responsibility for the errors.鈥�
Pam Snyder, a Democrat who retired as state representative for the area last year and previously served as a county commissioner, had stern questions about the ballots mistakes, including whether people who are infirm and can鈥檛 leave the house could be disenfranchised if they voted for three candidates.
鈥淭heir vote is invalid?鈥� Snyder asked rhetorically.
Belding responded that it鈥檇 be considered an 鈥渙ver vote鈥� and would not be counted, but the selections in all of the other races would be tabulated. He admitted they won鈥檛 know the magnitude of the problem until election day when they open up the mail-in ballots and determine how many people cast 鈥渙ver votes鈥� in the commissioners race.
Snyder also asked county officials how much this entire process cost between the second mail-in ballots that needed to be printed, the additional manpower at the elections office this week and the letters and postage they needed to send out. Belding didn鈥檛 have an exact figure, but estimated it to be between $8,000 and $10,000 in additional costs.
鈥淗ow is this going to be fixed in the future to make sure the vote in Greene County isn鈥檛 suppressed?鈥� Snyder asked.
Belding noted that he will not be a county commissioner next year, so he won鈥檛 be on the elections board. But the discussion then appeared to center around the performance of former elections director Jason Mihal, who started in January but left the position last month for a new opportunity elsewhere just as the first ballot problems began cropping up. Zimmerman said county officials are 鈥渟ick to our stomach鈥� about the issue while mainly pinning the blame on Mihal.
鈥淭he gentleman who was our director left in the middle of this move,鈥� Zimmerman said. 鈥淚 think a lot of it can go back to him. Other people looked at this ballot, but he initiated (the wording on) this ballot.鈥�
The county鈥檚 new election director, Eric Finch, started in the position Oct. 23 after the recent ballots were approved. He is the fifth different person to hold the position since the commissioners demoted longtime elections director Tina Kiger in August 2020. Finch spoke briefly at Wednesday鈥檚 meeting and reiterated the ways in which the county elections office is working to rectify the issue.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State鈥檚 statistics, 1,848 mail-in ballots sent out as of Monday, with 1,430 going to Democrats, 372 to Republicans and 46 to non-affiliated voters.