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Commissioner Belding charged after Greene candidates cry foul over ballot placement

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Greene County Commissioner Mike Belding

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Greene County District Attorney David Russo

Greene County Commissioner Mike Belding and county attorney Robert Eugene Grimm have been charged with multiple misdemeanors over how the county’s Board of Elections handled the ballot placement selection for candidates in the upcoming primary election.

The chief detective for Greene County District Attorney David Russo filed the charges against the two men Tuesday after the “casting of the lots” for candidates had to be conducted a second time on March 23 when the previous selection eight days earlier was nullified due to it not being properly advertised in multiple newspapers, per the election code.

But the filing of criminal charges – rather than a civil lawsuit asking a Greene County Court of Common Pleas judge to rectify the election issue – is raising questions about whether the district attorney’s chief detective leading the investigation is a conflict of interest because Russo is also a candidate for reelection in the May 16 primary and engaged in an ongoing public feud with Belding.

According to court documents, the ballot order drawing was originally held March 15 in the commissioners meeting room, which apparently was completed without any issues. But the following day, an attorney for the Greene County Republican Party Committee notified the elections office that it was challenging the selection process because the proceeding was advertised in only one newspaper of general circulation and not all of the candidates knew when it was happening. Due to that challenge, the elections office advertised a new date in two local newspapers to redraw the ballot order on March 23.

Before the recasting of lots, Russo told elections officials he had filed a written objection with the elections department, while other candidates in attendance protested by refusing to draw their own numbers, according to court documents. Greene County Elections Director Jason Mihal apparently told the candidates who refused to draw that they would be placed at the bottom of the ballot order for their races. It’s unclear why elections officials did not simply draw for them, such as would happen if a candidate or their representative did not attend the event.

The following day, Cameron Downer, who is a Republican candidate for county commissioner, requested that Russo’s office formally investigate the matter, along with Belding’s handling of the proceeding. Belding was the only active member of the county’s three-member Board of Elections because he’s not running for reelection this year while Betsy Rohanna-McClure and Blair Zimmerman – the other two county commissioners who would normally serve on it – had to resign earlier this year since they’re candidates in the primary. The two vacancies on the board weren’t filled until March 27, when President Judge Lou Dayich filed an order appointing Larry Stratton and Bill Lubich to serve on it for the remainder of the year.

County Detective Zachary Sams, who filed the charges, wrote in court documents that Belding is seen in a cellphone video at the session stating “he is the only acting member of the Elections Board,” while Grimm, who is the county’s solicitor, was there “representing and advising the Elections Board on their legal decisions” during the proceeding.

“Belding is utilizing his official position as the sole member of the Board, in coordination with Solicitor Robert E. Grimm, to affect an unjust and unlawful act on the political candidates of Greene County,” Sams wrote in court documents. “By placing all candidates that objected to the second casting of lots at the bottom of the ballot, the Elections Board and Department failed to fulfill their duties of ensuring that each candidate had a lot cast, thereby showing preference to the non-objecting candidates with a preferred position on the ballot.”

Mihal was appointed the new elections director in January, and he is the fourth different person to lead the department since the county commissioners demoted longtime elections director Tina Kiger in August 2020. Mihal, who is not charged in connection with the issues over the casting of the lots, did not respond to a phone message Wednesday afternoon. Grimm also did not respond to a phone call Wednesday seeking comment.

Shortly after the charges were filed at District Judge Lee Watson’s office Tuesday afternoon, Belding offered a brief statement to a newspaper reporter in which he said he thought Russo had a conflict of interest being involved in the case.

“I have no idea what his jurisdiction is (in filing charges) because it involves a campaign he’s involved in,” Belding said. “So presumably it should be handed over to the Attorney General.”

Russo said Wednesday he has turned the case over to the attorney general, although he admitted the investigation is ongoing and more charges could be filed.

“This case has been referred up to (the AG’s office) and they’re reviewing it and will take over prosecution of the case,” Russo said.

A spokesperson for the state attorney general’s office declined to comment the situation and did not confirm whether they’ve officially received the case.

Criminal charges over a ballot dispute seemed to be a highly unusual development for cases that normally are litigated through lawsuits, according to Bruce Antkowiak, a law professor at St. Vincent College in Latrobe. It’s unknown why the candidates who objected to the second casting of lots declined to file a lawsuit in Greene County Court of Common Pleas asking a judge to settle the matter.

“Most of the time when there is a dispute with an elections procedure, these things are handled civilly, and the courts try to intervene to resolve the issue in line with the statute,” Antkowiak said. “I’ve never heard of a criminal charge arising from something like this.”

Belding, 59, of Whiteley Township, and Grimm, 67, of Smithfield, are both facing four misdemeanor counts each of failure to perform duty, hindering performance of duty, unlawful assistance in voting and official oppression. Both are free while they await their preliminary hearings before Watson on May 16, which is the same date as the primary election.

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