Jun 7, 2017 5 min read

Each year, the Washington County commissioners appoint nine members of a canvass board to review votes, evaluate and total write-ins and keep a handwritten ledger of names and numbers for hundreds of races that range, depending on the year, from inspector of elections at the precinct level to President of the United States. Their ledgers become the official record for all time.

They did just that in the aftermath of the May 16 primary election.

But as the elections office staff was perusing one of the books Monday afternoon to double-check close races, a row of figures in the ledger didn’t match the numbers on a tally sheet.

The green-inked ledger listing the write-in contest for the Republican nomination for a supervisor’s seat in North Franklin Township had 106 votes for Bob Sabot and 108 votes for Martha T. Ward. A tally sheet from each precinct for Ward, however, added up to 68 votes, not 108. Sabot’s 106 was the same on each.

Washington County Elections Director Larry Spahr speculated the number of Ward’s write-in votes was incorrectly transcribed in the ledger, and no one caught the error amid the hundreds of pages the canvass board recorded before it closed up shop Friday. Spahr can’t simply change the total because that likely requires court action.

The elections director checked case law on how to remedy the error but found nothing, so he emailed Scott Fergus, an attorney who is the county’s director of administration. Fergus could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

Spahr said court challenges to election results must be filed this week.

Sabot had examined paper tape printouts from each precinct’s voting machines and claimed an election night write-in nomination on the Republican ticket.

“I won the Republican write-in clearly, and the canvass board needs to correct whatever mistakes they made,” Sabot said Tuesday afternoon. “The will of the voters is clear. I won the Republican race. If they would give her the Republican nomination, it would be total robbery.”

Ward said, “I have not seen any numbers or anything. I was just going, unofficially, on Facebook that my opponent won. I’ve kind of resigned myself that I’ve lost the Republican write-in and I’m anticipating a challenge in the fall.”

She had not discussed the outcome with the elections office, but said, “I would think if there is a discrepancy they’d have to reconvene the canvass board. I’ll take whatever it is they give me.”

According to totals on the Democratic ballot, Ward won the nomination with 228 votes to Sabot’s 210.

The commissioners, as of Tuesday afternoon, had not signed the election ledgers.

In the razor-thin margin of votes separating Washington County judicial hopefuls on the Republican ballot, state Rep. Brandon Neuman ended up with a 75-vote lead over Phil Melograne. Neuman handily won the Democratic nomination in a field of five candidates. Incumbent Democratic Sheriff Samuel Romano captured both his own party’s nomination and that of the GOP, while Democratic incumbent county Controller Michael Namie fell short in a Republican write-in where no candidate’s name appeared on the ballot.

Meanwhile, voters in Washington will see at least three candidates in a list of council hopefuls in the November election, including one who’s trying to make a comeback on City Council will have both a Republican and Democrat designation next to his name.

Matt Staniszewski, a Republican, and his committee organized a write-in campaign through mailing, word of mouth and social media on the other major-party ticket in the May 16 primary where a lone Democrat – incumbent Councilman Joe Manning – had filed. GOP incumbent Councilman Terry Faust is the other Republican nominee in a contest when voters in November will choose two council members for four-year terms.

Aug. 1 is the deadline for independent candidates to file.

According to write-in votes tabulated by the Washington County canvass board, Staniszewski was able to capture a Democratic nomination with 106 write-in votes, six more than required. In a primary, candidates must receive votes equal to or exceeding the minimum number of valid signatures on a nominating petition.

After serving two, four-year terms on city council, Staniszewski lost a re-election bid in 2013.

In other Democratic races around the county:

• Incumbent West Brownsville Mayor Martin C. Brockman Jr. was tied with John Petro. The elections office was attempting to contact each man to see if he wants the nomination. To break a tie, the elections office schedules a meetup where each candidate draws numbers.

• Matt Coleman received 11 votes and nomination for Peters Township council district C, where he will be running against incumbent Republican Frank Arcuri for a four-year term.

On the Republican ticket, several races are shaping up. Nancy Ellis, who lost in the Democratic primary to Edward Bryner, kept her candidacy alive for Charleroi mayor by achieving a GOP nomination. In California Borough, Frank Stetar received 40 GOP votes for mayor to square off against Rosemary Campanna in the fall.

Incumbent Michael Gomber received both parties’ nominations as East Washington mayor, as did Bill Lee for mayor of Speers.

Democrats James McDonough and David Rhome received nominations from both parties in Donora and Canonsburg, respectively.

Nelson Pettigrew Sr. and incumbent Elizabeth Cowden received write-in nominations to run on the GOP ticket for six-year terms on the Cecil Township board of supervisors against Democrats Ronald Fleeher and incumbent Tom Casciola.