Oct 25, 2012 4 min read

Washington County residents who are voting via absentee ballot have complained to the Washington County elections office that they received robocalls urging them to support a particular ticket. What no one can figure out is how the word got out so quickly about their intention to vote via absentee ballot. The Washington County elections office is required to keep track of absentee ballot applications, to whom they are issued and from whom they’re returned. The elections office staff enters the information into a statewide database known as the State Uniform Registry of Electors or SURE system, and also disseminates it to election boards at the precinct level. And although information about absentee ballot seekers and voters (but not for whom individuals voted) is public record, Larry Spahr, Washington County elections director, said no one has requested this from his office. The state’s election calendar, published in booklet form, notes for Oct. 30, “from this date, County Board of Elections shall have the Registered Absentee Voter’s File available for public inspection.” Oct. 30 is also the last day for elections offices to receive civilian absentee ballot applications. Four to five absentee voters notified the Washington County elections office of the robocalls. One of them, Charlotte Courie of North Strabane Township, also contacted the Observer-Reporter. “I got a robocall Tuesday afternoon,” Courie said Wednesday. “I called up to the elections office yesterday. I wondered, ‘Do they give those (absentee ballot applications) out?’ ” The call Courie received came from the Pennsylvania Republican Party in Harrisburg. Unbeknownst to the robocaller, Courie said she had already completed and returned her absentee ballot the previous Friday. “I just thought it was a little strange. I’ve voted by absentee ballot before, but nobody ever called me. I’m sick of this election,” said Courie, a Democrat. A request for comment was left with a spokeswoman for the state Republican Party, but the call was not returned. Brittani Haywood, press secretary for the state Democratic Party in Harrisburg, said via email Wednesday, “We have a variety of voter contact strategies, but we generally do not discuss details of specific strategies. “We are working hard to reach out to voters and get them to the polls so we can elect Democratic candidates who will put middle-class Pennsylvanians first.” Courie, a former North Strabane Township supervisor, was one of the leaders of a concerned citizens group that ousted a board in the 1980s. Leaders of an unrelated citizens group, also from that era, say they were shocked to see a mailer sent out with a name similar to the one they used when they opposed expansion of the Arden landfill in Chartiers Township. Gary Karluk of Washington was president of Concerned Citizens of Washington County. On Monday, the Karluks received via mass-mailing a flier about the presidential race stating on a scroll-shaped graphic, “This document was written by Concerned Citizens from Washington, Pennsylvania.” The name of this group was similar enough to the one they formed years ago that people with long memories – or those who Googled the name – apparently filled the Karluks’ voice mailbox with messages. The couple was so concerned about the tone that Juanita Karluk said she notified local police. She also visited Washington County Republican headquarters, where she saw a stack of the anti-Obama fliers, and asked that the line reading “Concerned Citizens from Washington Pennsylvania” be removed. Washington County GOP Chairman Tom Uram did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Spahr said someone other than the Karluks notified him of the all-but-anonymous four-page screed. “There is no disclaimer as to who these concerned citizens are,” Spahr said. “If this is this is an independent expenditure of more than $100, then a report has to be filed. You just can’t say ‘concerned citizens.’ Who paid for the publication?” Even if mailing is not related to a political party or a candidate’s run for office, independent expenditures also must be reported as campaign expenses. Failure to do so is considered a misdemeanor. If prosecuted for failure to report, the maximum penalty is a fine not to exceed $1,000, one year imprisonment, or both, Spahr said.