North Franklin election dispute in hands of judge

Neither of the two witnesses who testified Wednesday disputed the Washington County canvass board incorrectly listed 108 votes for incumbent North Franklin Township Supervisor Martha Ward – 40 more than the board counted – in the ledger on which it preserves vote counts.
Instead, the central question at a hearing before a Washington County judge on Wednesday appeared to be whether Bob Sabot, her opponent in the write-in race for the Republican nomination for the seat, should have discovered the error sooner and taken action to seek a recount before the deadline lapsed June 6, five days after the canvass board completed its work.
“If there is a problem, as you allege, you could have found out about it June 1” by contacting the elections office, said Steve Taczak, Ward’s attorney, as he cross-examined Sabot.
It wasn’t until June 8 Dennis Makel, Sabot’s attorney, filed two petitions – seeking in one a court order directing a “recount of the votes for the prescribed precinct” and in the second an order directing county elections director Larry Spahr to certify Sabot as the GOP nominee for supervisor and “to take any and all necessary steps” to ensure Sabot be placed on the ballot for the Nov. 7 election.
Sabot maintained he and Makel filed the petitions “as quickly as we possibly could” once they learned about the discrepancy.
Judge Damon Faldowski concluded the hearing without rendering a decision. He seemed to disagree with procedures that make it incumbent on the candidates to contact Spahr’s office to find out when the canvass board is done with its work.
“It seems like there’s a problem with the system,” Faldowski said.
He said after the hearing he expects to render a decision by Monday.
Sabot testified he spent the primary day at the polls and saw unofficial results at the end of the day that showed him clinching the Republican nomination. He later learned from Spahr unofficial results showed him with 106 write-in votes to his opponent’s 68.
Sabot said he didn’t learn he might not be the nominee until June 6, when he got an afternoon phone call from a reporter from the Observer-Reporter asking about an apparent “discrepancy” the elections office had found in the vote totals.
“Thank God we have a free press in this country,” Sabot said following the hearing, pointing out no one affiliated with the county had brought the matter to his attention.
He said he spoke that day to Spahr, who verified what the reporter said. Sabot said Spahr initially told him he had until June 8 to challenge the results in court.
Spahr testified that any timeline he could have offered ahead of time for when the canvass board would complete its work would have been a “guesstimate.”
Makel presented a letter from Spahr that explained the discrepancy orginated in the first precinct of the township, where the canvass board counted 25 votes for Ward but entered 65 in the ledger.
“Based upon the initial tallies, which apparently were correct for both candidates, Mr. Sabot is the nominee,” the letter stated.
Ward, who won the Democratic nomination for the seat, declined comment as she left the courtroom.
Sabot said after the hearing his opponent turned “a simple mistake” into a more serious issue by opposing his court petitions: “She is trying to steal an election from the Republican voters of North Franklin Township, who clearly nominated me in a landslide.”