On May 14, the Washington County Bar Association, along with
several other organizations, sponsored a well-attended public forum at the
Hilton Garden Inn at Southpointe. The program focused on state and local
elections and voting rights. The diverse audience included advocates for
expanding voting rights, local Republican election deniers, and concerned
citizens seeking information on local elections.
The nonpartisan panel was to include former Gov. Tom
Corbett; Tim Lewis, a retired Republican federal judge from Western
Pennsylvania; Ron Beecher, the deputy director of the Pennsylvania Department
of State who oversees elections; and all three Washington County commissioners.
Jon Delano, the politics reporter for KDKA-TV, was the moderator.
Five hours before the event, however, the Republican
Washington County commissioners, Nick Sherman and Electra Janis, notified the
organizers that, on the advice of the county solicitor, they would not
participate in the forum or permit Melanie Ostrander, the county’s elections
director to attend. The Democratic commissioner, Larry Maggi, attended, along
with the other invitees. They provided valuable information. Bracken Burns, a
former Washington County commissioner, was sitting next to me when the no-shows
were announced. He leaned over and whispered, “In 16 years as commissioner, I
never checked with my solicitor before attending a public meeting!”
Before addressing the
absent commissioners, a few observations about the excellent program are
helpful. Corbett and Lewis are members of a nonprofit civic education
organization Keep Our Republic. Their work “is focused on unconventional
threats facing our election system and on ways to help strengthen trust in our
electoral system.”
The panel wanted the audience to leave the forum with two
important thoughts. First was the need to educate the voting public on our
state and local election systems. This includes how they are organized, why they
are secure and deserve our trust, and the importance of volunteers to work on
polling places.
The second point was the value of evidence when
investigating voter fraud. The panel responded to questions from local election
deniers who raised conspiracy theories. The panel explained that all
Pennsylvania fraud claims were thoroughly investigated. No evidence of
tampering has been uncovered.
Sherman and Janis did not attend this timely community forum
because of possible litigation over their decision to terminate a voter’s right
to correct a mail-in ballot if it contains clerical errors. Advocates for
voting rights want them to return to the prior system and permit the correction
of ballots. Some local Republicans applaud
their decision. Other voters want to know the reason for the change in
procedure.
In my opinion, as a lawyer for over 45 years, invoking
“advice of counsel” not to attend this important public discussion was an
ill-advised decision. The Republican commissioners could have participated and
declined to answer questions on their vote to prohibit ballot corrections. Most
of the program discussed election issues in Washington County that had nothing
to do with mail-in ballots.
Republicans have controlled the elections board for over
four years. Presumably, Sherman and Janis could provide positive information on
the well-run elections under their watch. By not attending, the local elections
process remained clouded and subject to ongoing conspiracy theories.
The forum members explained that each county board of
elections has broad authority to set their own procedures within the parameters
of state election law. Ostrander, who was denied permission to attend the
forum, illustrates the confusion that requires official explanation. In 2022,
she explained to Votebeat Pennsylvania, “When we’re dealing with election
deniers, they will say ‘Well I talked to so-and so in such county and that is
not how they do it’ and they would say ‘Well, you are breaking the law.’
Election officials are not making up rules as we go along.”
Failure to show up because of a possible lawsuit challenging
the decision on mail-in ballots made little sense. The four largest counties in
Pennsylvania, along with many others, support the rights of voters and permit
mail-in ballot corrections. Other counties that seek to limit acceptance of
mail-in ballots agree with Sherman and Janis. There is no final legal decision,
and both procedures are allowed.
All across the commonwealth, Republicans are suing
commissioners who permit the correction of ballots, and Democrats are suing
commissioners who do not. David Ball, the former chairman of the Washington
County Republican Party, appears as a plaintiff on lawsuits in state and
federal courts suing counties that have adopted expanded voting rights
procedures.
A possible lawsuit is no reason to deny voters the
opportunity to question their elected officials about voting procedures in
Washington County. The decision of Sherman and Janis not to attend was a
cop-out that flies in the face of transparency and good government.
To add insult to injury, Sherman’s official explanation for
his vote to prohibit mail-in ballot correction is misleading at best. He
states, “The county will continue to follow the state law and the ruling of the
Third Circuit.” As explained above, there is no definitive state law on
correcting mail-in ballots. The recent Third Circuit opinion deals with dating
a mail-in ballot, not corrections to one.
A more reasonable
explanation for not attending the public forum is that Sherman and Janis
support the suppression of mail-in votes and were afraid to show up and say so.
Interested readers can obtain a wealth of information on
Pennsylvania elections by visiting keepourrepublic.org and vote.pa.gov.
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