Hearing scheduled to consider N. Franklin supervisor nominees

Washington County Judge Damon Faldowski has set 9:30 a.m. Wednesday as the time of a hearing to consider who should be the supervisor nominee of Republican voters in North Franklin Township.
No Republican filed as a candidate for the May 16 primary, so Democrats Martha T. Ward and Bob Sabot each conducted a write-in effort to gain the nomination.
The official record of the write-in totals for three North Franklin precincts shows Ward as the winner with 108 votes and Sabot with 106 as transcribed by the canvass board. But the official record does not match a work sheet, also kept at the elections office, that shows Sabot, a former supervisor, prevailing over Ward, who had 68 votes.
The elections office discovered the discrepancy when double-checking close votes among potential write-in nominees.
Both sides and Washington County Elections Director Larry Spahr appeared before Faldowski Thursday. Attorney Dennis Makel, representing Sabot, planned to file two petitions with the prothonotary, one challenging the official record and the other demanding either a change or a recount of write-in votes in the race. Thursday was the deadline to challenge an outcome in the primary.
Copies of the documents were served Wednesday at Ward’s home, and she did not have time to retain legal counsel, according to township Solicitor Michael Cruny. He came to court but said the solicitor’s office would be unable to represent Ward, an incumbent supervisor, as a candidate in this matter.
Makel called the circumstances “an anomaly,” telling the judge he couldn’t find other election cases based on an error made in posting official results. In Washington County, the results are transcribed in the official record by hand.