Nov 27, 2018 3 min read

Democrat Steve Toprani officially challenged Republican incumbent state Rep. Bud Cook’s 11-vote lead in the 49th Legislative District race, asking Washington County Court to overturn the earliest deadline in the United States regarding the return of completed absentee ballots.

Toprani’s lawyers – Joseph Dalfonso, John Cambest and Joseph Sabino Mistick – asked Washington County Court to order the Elections Board to open and count 29 absentee ballots in the 49th District that arrived after the 5 p.m. Nov. 2 deadline, but before Election Day.

Cutbacks in the postal system make it difficult or impossible for voters who request absentee ballots before the Oct. 30 deadline to receive their ballots, complete them, and mail them back so they arrive in the elections office before the Nov. 2 deadline, Toprani’s legal team alleged.

The 29 absentee ballots have not yet been opened by the elections office, and Toprani’s attorneys claim these voters are being disenfranchised.

Toprani’s attorneys noted in 2012, Gov. Tom Corbett extended the absentee ballot deadline in four eastern Pennsylvania counties due to election office closures during Hurricane Sandy, saying “there is no impediment to adjusting absentee voting deadlines.”

Louisiana and Mississippi require absentee ballots be inside the elections office by the day before the election. The other 47 states require they arrive, at the latest, on Election Day. Military and overseas civilian ballots can be counted a week after Election Day if they are postmarked before the election in Pennsylvania.

As part of their 19-page petition, they also claimed Dennis Butler, who voted in Carroll Township’s 4th precinct, voted for Toprani on Election Day but saw the touchscreen machine display a vote being cast for Cook.

Voting was discontinued on two machines “due to malfunctions,” they allege, and Toprani asked the court to require elections officials to mail ballots and secrecy envelopes to people who used those machines so they can re-vote.

Toprani also asked the court to toss three provisional ballots that were counted last week without permitting his team to review them for possible challenges.

Signing Toprani’s petition to the court were 40 residents of the 49th District.

A call to attorney Russell Giancola, who represented Cook, a West Pike Run Township resident seeking a second, two-year term, was not immediately returned Monday afternoon.

Toprani, a Monongahela resident who is a former Washington County district attorney, amassed more votes on the Washington County side of the river, while Cook, who lives in West Pike Run Township, bested Toprani in neighboring Fayette County.

Totals from both Washington and Fayette counties were Cook, 9,945 and Toprani, 9,934.

The Washington County canvass board completed its task Nov. 20, triggering a five-day challenge period. Day number five fell on a Sunday when the courthouse is closed, so the deadline advanced to Monday.

Melanie Ostrander, Washington County assistant director of elections, said the Elections Board – composed of the county commissioners during years they are not running – had expected to sign off on official results Tuesday if no challenges had been filed.

Cook, a small businessman, had as his campaign slogan, “Rehire Bud Cook.”