Nov 8, 2017 4 min read

Westmoreland County President Judge Richard E. McCormick Jr. will not convene a hearing affecting the Monessen mayoral race now that Matthew Shorraw has withdrawn a petition filed with the court over absentee ballots.

Shorraw, 27, late Tuesday declared victory over incumbent Mayor Lou Mavrakis, 80, whom he defeated in the May primary on the Democratic ballot. No Republican had filed, and Mavrakis conducted a write-in campaign in an attempt to stay on as mayor for another four years.

On Election Day, Shorraw challenged absentee ballot applications and completed absentee ballots, requesting an emergency injunction. The ballots were sequestered under lock and key in the elections office. He claimed that residents had been improperly told they could vote by absentee ballot if they were 65 or older, which is not permissable under state election law.

McCormick Wednesday, however, vacated his order separating the absentee ballots at the request of Shorraw, who received 1,086 votes Tuesday.

There were 539 write-in votes cast in Monessen and, according to published reports, approximately 300 absentee ballots. Even if all 839 votes were for Mavrakis, it would not be enough to overcome Shorraw’s total.

Beth Lechman, Westmoreland County director of elections, said Wednesday, “I’ve never experienced anything like this in my years working in the department,” which goes back a decade.

Shorraw did not return a phone call or email seeking comment Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Washington County elections office expected to begin counting between 500 and 600 absentee ballots Thursday, a process that will be done alphabetically by municipality.

Absentee ballots have a potential to affect the outcome in some close races, such as the tie between Anthony Gianfrancesco and Robert Cassidy for Smith Township supervisor, in which each candidate has 434 votes.

The nine-member canvass board, appointed last week by the Washington County commissioners, will be sworn in on Friday, which is the county Veterans Day holiday. The canvass board is scheduled to begin its task of tabulating write-in votes Monday, a process that it will wrap up later this month.

In the case of a stalemate that exists when vote totals are certified, candidates have an opportunity to draw either high or low numbers to break a tie.

The outcome of several school board races hinge on write-in votes. They include Avella, where no candidates filed for Region II; Burgettstown Region II; a two-year term in Charleroi, and McGuffey Region I.

In the Ringgold School District, which is beset by a teachers’ strike, school board President William C. Stein Jr. and member Lawrence Mauro may have fallen short in bids for three at-large seats. Sherrie Crawley Garr and Jim Dodd were re-elected, but 2,061 write-in votes were cast, more than Mauro’s 1,953 or Stein’s 1,890. Mauro, however, prevailed in Region I for a four-year term as did Carol Fida Flament in Region II.

In McGuffey Region II, more write-in votes – 307 – were cast than candidate Richard D. Shriver, who was on the ballot, received.

There is a close race for Canton Township supervisor, where Sam Bear held a four-vote lead on election night over Tom Bodnovich.

Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Department of State was notified about a question regarding a voting machine allegedly failing to record votes in West Bethlehem Township, where Maria Pinkney and Thomas Donahoo were running for supervisor. A technician checked the touch-screen machine and found no problems.

Melanie Ostrander, assistant director of elections, said a voter’s skin must come in contact with the screen, which will not record a vote if the only contact is a fingernail. Unofficial totals from the Washington County elections office show Pinkney with 170 votes to Donahoo’s 232.

Washington County Elections Director Larry Spahr found himself ousted as Union Township supervisor, a seat he has held since 1977, except for a few years earlier in the 21st century.

“Truthfully, it’s like the weight of the world was taken off my shoulders,” Spahr said Wednesday.

Overall turnout in Washington County was 25.6 percent, exceeding projections that it would be in the low 20s.