With Shober 38 votes ahead, elections board seeks information from 35 provisional voters
Republican challenger Mike McCormick, second from left, and incumbent Democratic Commissioner Harlan Shober, rear, await the count of provisional ballots Monday in the Washington County elections office.
Washington County Commission candidates, their attorneys, county officials and members of the county Board of Elections are shown Monday during issues regarding provisional ballots.
Washington County Commission candidates Mike McCormick, left, and Harlan Shober, right, attend the Board of Elections meeting called to determine the validity of provisional votes Monday. Shober is talking with county elections director Larry Spahr.
A week after the general election, incumbent Democrat Harlan Shober held a 38-vote advantage over his Republican opponent Mike McCormick for the third seat on the Washington County board of commissioners when unchallenged provisional ballots were counted Monday morning.
Seventy-four provisional ballots found to be procedurally acceptable by both candidates were tabulated Monday morning with a net gain of two votes for Shober, whose total had stood at 36 Thursday afternoon when 800-some absentee ballots were counted.
When the results of provisional were revealed during a count open to the public, some of the voters chose Democrat Larry Maggi and Republican Diana Irey Vaughan, both incumbents. Ballots were thrown out of the commissioners’ race because the voter ignored instructions to vote for no more than two and, instead, picked three. Others chose not to vote for any candidate or decided to write names of people not listed on the ballot.
It will be Friday at the earliest before the number of votes separating the candidates is determined.
The validity of 35 provisional ballots not yet counted was challenged by either one or both candidates, and the Washington County Elections Board convened a meeting to hear why these votes should or should not be counted.
In the past, there have been close elections in Washington County, but they took place before Pennsylvania adopted provisional balloting for the 2004 presidential election year.
“This is unprecedented for provisionals,” said Larry Spahr, Washington County elections director, after the board wrapped up for the day on Monday afternoon.
Whether the paperwork, signatures accompanying the remaining provisional ballots and various factors comply with legal requirements is a decision for the election board.
Joseph Zupancic, attorney for Shober, said Monday afternoon of the McCormick camp, “They challenged almost exclusively Democrats and we challenged mostly Republicans. It may have been all Republicans. I didn’t see them challenging any Republican. People attach much less significance to party registration than they have in the past. You want to enfranchise people but you also want to make sure that the process is fair. We could’ve been throwing out votes for us and they could’ve been throwing out votes for them. Until you open them up, you have no idea.”
Election Board Chairman Bradley Bassi said the board will scrutinize the issues and make a determination at a meeting scheduled for noon Friday in the Courthouse Square office building.
McCormick said Monday afternoon said his attorneys were looking at information accompanying the secret ballots to try to determine if the voter was eligible, “not necessarily any particular characteristic or registration. I don’t think anybody had the foresight to realize we were going to be as close as we are. The process seems to be working and it seems to be, from the bureau of elections standpoint, under the leadership of Wes (Parry) and Larry (Spahr). I think they’re doing a good job.”
Shober said he fully supported the election board’s attempt to contact the voters whose provisional ballots are yet to be counted.
“Every vote, as we now know, is important to count. I think the process is fine. I’m very optimistic. If it takes a few more days to make sure everyone gets their voice heard, it’s great. I’m all for it.”
Parry, Washington County assistant director of elections, said a total of 121 provisional ballots had been vetted by the staff and inspected by attorneys for the candidates. One was rejected because it had not been protected by any security envelope.
Suspense surrounding the outcome of the race heightened last week when Sean Logue, McCormick’s attorney, sought an injunction to temporarily delay the count of absentee ballots so the tabulation could be performed by the canvass board, which convened Friday. Shober’s attorney objected to a delay.
Judge Katherine B. Emery denied Logue’s request for the injunction, but ordered that the absentee ballots be identified with numbers or marks so they could be segregated in case of later court challenges.
Provisional ballots were legislated into existence in Congress’ Help America Vote Act of 2002 in the wake of the George W. Bush-Al Gore election dispute that went on for months after the 2000 presidential election.
ProjectVote.org explains the provisional ballot this way: “For a variety of reasons, including clerical and erroneous list maintenance procedures, eligible, registered voters may arrive at the polls and discover that their names are not on the official voter rolls.
“To counter this risk, Congress included a ‘fail-safe’ provisional voting requirement in (the act). Election officials are required to provide provisional ballots to individuals” not included on the official list of registered voters. Provisional ballots are counted only after election officials determine that the individual who cast this type of ballot is actually eligible to vote.
Democratic incumbent Commissioner Larry Maggi was the top vote-getter in last week’s election, followed by incumbent Republican Diana Irey Vaughan.
If McCormick ultimately prevails in the contest, it would signify a shift in the political majority on the board in which the GOP has been in the minority since 2000.