Manning tops Dem council write-in
Incumbent Washington Councilman Joe Manning, bounced from the ballot earlier this month because his nominating petition had insufficient signatures, appeared to prevail in an effort Tuesday to gain a Democratic nomination.
Although each write-in vote has to be evaluated by the Washington County Canvass Board, a rough estimate of his total Wednesday from an elections office printout was 334. No other candidate filed for council on the Democratic side, where two candidates are to be elected in the fall.
Two Republican candidates, who were running unopposed in the primary, also were seeking Democratic write-ins. Tracie Graham Rotunda appears to have received 187 Democratic votes, and incumbent Councilman Matt Staniszewski appears to have received 170 Democratic votes.
To obtain a write-in nomination in the primary, a candidate must receive at least the same number of votes as the number of signatures required on a nominating petition, in this case, 100.
In the case of multiple candidates seeking write-in nominations in the council race, the two top vote-getters would be nominated.
City resident Bernard Russell challenged Manning’s nominating petitions in March, and Washington County Judge Gary Gilman ordered that his name be removed from Tuesday’s ballot.
Another issue arose when copies of an election office memo were taped to voting machines at the Manning’s home precinct, Washington’s 7th Ward, 3rd precinct, at Calvary Temple, 1200 Donnan Ave.
The memo was posted in at least two other precincts. The city has 12 precincts.
Sean Logue, the attorney representing Frank Zaccone, obtained an emergency injunction late Tuesday that elections materials be confiscated and preserved.
“We’re still gathering evidence,” Logue said Wednesday. “I don’t want this to be political. This is about the integrity of the election process. I don’t think the election office did anything wrong. (Elections Director) Larry Spahr opened up his entire office to me. Eleven copies of the memo were sent with absentee ballots. The issue is, if only 11 copies were made, how did hundreds of copies get inside the polling places and end up taped to the machines?”
Logue said there were two memos, one that referenced absentee ballots that was printed before Manning was bounced from the ballot, which was photocopied, and another that noted Manning’s name was printed on provisional ballots before Gilman ordered his name removed from ballots in early May.
Spahr said Wednesday he was not permitted to cover or cross out Manning’s name on these provisionals.
In another write-in contest, Nancy Carr of Washington appeared to have more than enough Republican write-in votes to gain the nomination in the recorder of deeds race to face Democratic incumbent Debbie Bardella in the fall. She had more than 463 votes; 250 are required in a countywide contest. Sheriff Sam Romano, however, in a quest for a Republican write-in, appeared to have fallen short of 250 by about 68 votes.
In the Washington County judges’ race, where two Democrats were nominated by both Democrats and Republicans for two openings on the county bench, county GOP Chairman William Merrell said he has asked Gov. Tom Corbett to appoint the nominees, Valarie Costanzo and Michael Lucas.
“Washington County Court needs the two people, and the people of Washington County need to have their selections supported by the governor,” Merrell said. “They are virtually guaranteed election in the fall, and an interim appointment (of other attorney or attorneys) would just confuse the situation.”
Corbett and Merrell are Republicans, while Lucas and Costanzo are Democrats.
Merrell acknowledged the irony of making the appeal on behalf of two Democrats, saying, “it is probably something different around here.”
As to the turnout of about 20 percent of the electorate, Democratic Chairman George Vitteck said Wednesday, “I’ve got to evaluate society today, and I haven’t come to a conclusion yet. Consultants are throwing trash out, and I think all this negative advertising is turning people off.”
He also pointed out elections that follow presidential contests historically have the lowest turnouts.
The number of people who register to vote, Vitteck said, inflates the figures. “Because of the state law, you can’t purge like you used to. You have all this dead weight in your total amount.”