Greene County ballots mistakenly list two magisterial district judge races
news@greenecountymessenger.com
Absentee and mail-in ballots sent to voters in Greene County list two races for magisterial district judge, when the ballots should have listed just one contest or none at all.
The election for magisterial district judge in District 13-3-01, which covers the western part of the county, and District 13-3-02, encompassing the central part of Greene, are both on the mail-in ballot. Ballots should have instead contained only the contest happening in the voter鈥檚 district, or, in the case of the eastern part of the county, none at all, since District Judge Lee Watson is not up for reelection this year.
This could lead many voters to fill in ovals for both candidates or candidates who are outside their district.
Jason Mihal, Greene County鈥檚 election director, said he was seeking legal advice on how to handle the ballots and otherwise declined to comment.
In District 13-3-01, District Judge David Balint is running for reelection without opposition, though voters have a write-in option. Tom Ankrom is also running unopposed in District 13-3-02. If elected, Ankrom will be replacing District Judge Glenn Bates, who announced his retirement earlier this year after serving three, four-year terms. District 13-3-01 includes Waynesburg, as well as such communities as Aleppo, Freeport and Springhill. District 13-3-02 includes Clarksville and Jefferson, along with Franklin, Jefferson and Morgan townships.
Last week, Mihal said that about 1,600 ballots had been sent out so far with 鈥渕ore requests coming in.鈥� He did not have a breakdown on the party affiliation of those who requested ballots.
Mike Belding, chairman of the Greene County Board of Commissioners, said Monday that county officials are aware of the problem with the ballots and 鈥渨e鈥檙e going to solve the problem and find out what happened.鈥� He said 鈥渁 solution鈥� would likely be arrived at by Tuesday, but didn鈥檛 say what it could entail.
Robert Grimm, Greene County鈥檚 solicitor, could not be reached for comment.
Mihal was hired as the county鈥檚 elections director in January, and recently announced he would be stepping down for another job elsewhere after the Nov. 7 general election. Mihal is the fourth elections director Greene County has had since 2020.