Township elections decided in Greene
WAYNESBURG – Though races for Greene County judge and county commissioner attracted the most interest, Tuesday’s election also decided a number of local races for offices including township supervisor, borough council and tax collector.
“Overall, the election went well,” elections Director Tina Kiger said Wednesday. “Election office staff and poll workers did an excellent job.”
The elections office reported several “normal” problems with voting machines and a programming error that required a change in instructions to voters for tax collector in Waynesburg Borough.
At the township levels, the election decided supervisor races in Center, Dunkard, Franklin, Jackson and Washington townships, and council races in Waynesburg Borough’s Ward II and Ward III.
The following are unofficial results reported by the county elections office. They include votes from absentee ballots.
In Center Township, Democrat Edward Butch Deter defeated by a narrow margin Republican William R. Main for supervisor, 214 to 204.
In Dunkard Township, Republican Mark Blaker defeated Democrat David Pritchard for supervisor, 227 to 199.
For Franklin Township supervisor, Democrat Todd Hoy defeated Republican Steve Fenstermacher, 1,076 to 357.
For Jackson Township supervisor, Republican Ralph Ed Kiger defeated Democrat Nancy Gump , 93 to 73.
For Washington Township supervisor, Republican Walter S. Stout, defeated Democrat Scott Johnson, 230 to 143.
Races appeared on the ballot for council in two wards in Waynesburg Borough.
For council in Ward II, where one seat was up for grabs, Democrat Greg Leathers defeated Republican Eric Rush, 120 to 76.
In Ward III, the winners of the two seats were Democrat Lynn Snyder, 170 votes, and Republican Mark Fischer, 126 votes.
The third candidate, Democrat Linda Butcher, received 93 votes.
A race also appeared for tax collector in Center Township. That contest was won by Republican Kayla Patton who received 288 votes. Democrat Michelle Goodwin, received 179 votes.
An auditor’s race in Center Township was won by Democrat Harry Gillispie against Robert Kirgan in a 273 to 180 vote; and for an auditor’s race in Monongahela Township, Democrat Andrea Rumble defeated Republican Larry Rogerson in a 174 to 105 vote.
Any races for school director in the county’s five school districts had been decided in the primary election.
According to Scott Kelley, election machine custodian and county IT director, the election office faced the “normal issues” with screen calibrations required on four or five voting machines and other minor glitches. The judges of elections in those precincts noticed the problems and took the machines out of service. An election machine custodian from the elections office then went to the poll to recalibrate the machines, Kiger said.
A programming error also was discovered involving tax collector in Waynesburg Borough, Kiger said. Because of the error, a voter who voted straight Democrat would not automatically cast a vote for Kayla Balint, a Democrat and the only candidate on the ballot.
The error was caught about 9 a.m. and a sign posted at the polls informing voters who wished to vote straight Democrat to separately select Balint when voting.
However, about 1 p.m. Tuesday, Kiger said, Linda Corfont came to the elections office and indicated she was conducting a write-in campaign for tax collector and objected to the sign placed at the polls.
The sign was immediately changed to indicate those voting straight Democrat who “wish” to vote for tax collector, with Balint’s name in parenthesis, must individually select her name.
When it was questioned whether Balint’s name should be included on the sign, Kiger said she reviewed the matter with visiting Senior Judge Hiram Carpenter III, who was serving as judge for the election.
Between 3 and 4 p.m., a new sign was issued, removing Balint’s name and stating straight-Democrat voters could either select the “named candidate” or cast a write-in vote.
According to the unofficial results, Balint received 516 votes. Fifty-eight write-in votes were cast and about 55 of them were for Corfont.
“I am disappointed in the manner that the elections office attempted to make amends for a programming error,” Corfont said in a statement issued Wednesday. “The mistake was compounded by poorly worded signs that were placed inside polling places that appeared to compel voters to cast a vote for a particular individual,” she said.
Corfont said she knows from working the polls for many years it is not permitted to have material with a candidate’s name inside the polling place. “The signage was not amended to eliminate candidate’s names until nine hours of the voting day had passed,” she said.
Corfont did not say whether she will challenge the results.