Apr 20, 2021 3 min read

A judge has blocked an attempt by three Donegal Township supervisors to halt the municipality’s primary election next month.

Washington County Judge Michael Lucas ruled late Friday afternoon to deny the preliminary injunction request by Supervisors Richard Martin, Richard Fidler and Tammi M. Iams after they claimed they could be removed from office before their terms expire when the board is downsized from five members to three after this year’s election.

“The proper and lawful exercise of a fundamental right to vote may not be sacrificed to maintain the term of any officeholder,” Lucas wrote in his opinion. “An elected office is a public trust, not the private domain of the officeholder.”

The three supervisors filed the lawsuit April 9 claiming they could be harmed by the May 18 primary because each has multiple years remaining on their terms, meaning they could be removed early if they lose their reelection bids later this year. The trio sued the Washington County Board of Elections asking for it to halt the election or invalidate the results. Also named in the lawsuit were fellow Supervisors Edward Shingle Jr. and Kathleen Croft.

During a hearing Thursday, county solicitor Jana Grimm questioned the timing of the challenge on the “eve of an election” as the elections staff was preparing absentee and mail-in ballots that would include the supervisors race in Donegal Township. Elections Director Melanie Ostrander testified that the staff was performing standard tests on the ballots Friday and were having them printed this week, making it difficult to redesign them at such a late date.

In his opinion, Lucas noted that no supervisors will be removed from office following next month’s primary, which may leave the door open to a subsequent legal challenge again before the general election in the fall. He also wrote that voters in other counties have decided to eliminate row offices in the past, which has cut terms short for those elected leaders.

Thomas King III, the Butler-based attorney representing the plaintiffs, said they plan to file an appeal soon in Commonwealth Court.

“Conducting this election in this manner is unconstitutional,” Thomas said Monday. “We believe the case law is clear that such an election violates the (state) Constitution.”

He noted that Lucas did not dismiss the lawsuit altogether. But King said he still thinks the primary could cause “imminent” harm to his clients.

Donegal Township’s residents voted overwhelmingly in November to downsize the board from five supervisors to three, just four years after voting to expand the body.

Three positions are currently open on the board of supervisors after the referendum, with descending terms that range from six to two years. Martin and Fidler are candidates in the Republican primary, while Iams and Croft are running on the Democratic side of the ballot.

Shingle and three other Republican candidates – Randy Poland, James Bauer and Chad Thomas – were removed from the ballot last month after a challenge to their nominating signatures.