Chesco Sued For Unmonitored Drop Boxes

Chesco Sued For Unmonitored Drop Boxes — America First Legal (AFL) and counsel Wally Zimolong, Sept. 15, filed a second lawsuit in Pennsylvania on behalf of registered voters in Chester County, Pa. against the Chester County Board of Elections and its board members to compel their immediate compliance with Pennsylvania’s election laws in connection with ballot drop boxes.

Chesco has 13 drop boxes authorized for usage in the November general election. Voter services, however, failed to monitor two of them during the primary, according to the suit, to ensure they were being used in full compliance with the Election Code, including Pennsylvania’s statutory requirement that only one person was delivering his or her own ballot. 

Especially damning was that these boxes were open 24/7.

There were security cameras impotently watching which recorded 330 individuals depositing void, invalid, or multiple ballots at once without repercussions, according to the suit.

Chesco Sued For Unmonitored Drop Boxes
Chesco dropbox being stuffed on May 12

AFL seeks the court’s immediate action to enjoin the Election Board from accepting, counting, or canvassing any ballots that contravene the lawful use of drop boxes or to receive invalid ballots from drop boxes in Chester County and commingling these with validly cast ballots and to compel the County to put into place the following measures:

  • Drop boxes must be physically monitored in-person to assure that the person delivering the ballot is only delivering his or her own ballot or is an authorized agent of a disabled voter with the proper affidavit signed by the voter and verified by the election board.
  • Chester County Election Board shall otherwise fulfill its statutory duties to ensure that void and invalid ballots are not commingled and counted in all future elections.

The lawsuit can be found here.

Chesco Sued For Unmonitored Drop Boxes

Chesco Audit Finds Shortage Of GOP Ballots In Primary

Chesco Audit Finds Shortage Of GOP Ballots In Primary — The Chester County Election Board failed to comply with state election law in the May 17 primary, according to an audit performed by attorney Carmela Ciliberti.

Mrs. Ciliberti used the state’s right-to-know law to acquire primary ballot order spreadsheets, manuals, the ballot printing production proposal, and Election Day call logs and emails.

State law requires that every county’s board of election keep a supply of ballots at least 10 percent greater than the highest number of ballots cast in any of the three previous equivalent elections.

Voter Services was notified 6:30 a.m., election day that there were no Republican ballots at precinct 825 West Chester 2-W. This required ballots to be printed at 8:20 a.m., an hour and 20 minutes after the polls opened.

How many had to leave the line to get to work? Were they able to come back? How many were disenfranchised?

At precinct 410 W Nottingham, only 100 ballots were ordered for 959 registered Republican voters. The 100 ballots were used by 11:30 a.m. and voting couldn’t restart until 2:30 p.m.

The problem is serious and thank God someone is calling attention to it.

Chesco Audit Finds Shortage Of GOP Ballots In Primary

Chesco Audit Finds Shortage Of GOP Ballots In Primary

Florida Does Elections Well, Pennsylvania Does Elections LOL

Florida Does Elections Well, Pennsylvania Does Elections LOL — By 8:30 p.m. on Florida’s primary election day, we know who won just about all the important races, which included hotly contested ones.

Compare that to Pennsylvania.

Florida, by the way, has 9 million more people and two time zones.

Florida Does Elections Well, Pennsylvania Does Elections LOL
Florida Does Elections Well, Pennsylvania Does Elections LOL

Quarter Of Delco Precincts Unreconcilable From May Primary

Quarter Of Delco Precincts Unreconcilable From May Primary — Delaware County, Pa. has contributed more than its share to the belief held by more than half the population that Joe Biden is an illegitimate president.

No amount of gaslighting by Democrat officials who put partisanship ahead of public good will change this.

It’s not justice that motivates these people but “just us”.

And now we have learned problems remain unfixed.

In the May 17 Primary, 105 of Delco’s 428 precincts were not reconciled due to major discrepancies (38 precincts) or just flat out unreconcilable (67 precincts) according to the bi-partisan county Return Board.

That’s a quarter of the precincts with uncertain results.

The Board of Elections certified them anyway.

Outrage is warranted and not just at the Democrats in charge but at the silently acquiescing Republicans.

Hey, being the loyal opposition can give you a pretty soft life if you are loyal enough.

We hear Councilwoman Christine Reuther called citizens racists and anti-semites for expressing concern about fair elections at last night’s (Aug 3) County Council meeting.

One of her “anti-semites” was a woman named Schwartz.

LOL

Hey Christine, that garbage doesn’t work anymore. To deny that the election concerns are legit means you’re not fit to hold an elected office. To defame those expressing such concerns means the only job for which you are fit is fetching coffee.

We also hear County Solicitor William Martin made some unfortunate and personal comments regarding the citizens who spoke. That does not speak well to his professionalism.

Here is the report from the County Return Board:

Quarter Of Delco Precincts Unreconcilable From May Primary

Quarter Of Delco Precincts Unreconcilable From May Primary
Quarter Of Delco Precincts Unreconcilable From May Primary
Quarter Of Delco Precincts Unreconcilable From May Primary

Jarett Coleman Flew To Upset Win Over Pat Browne In 16th District

Jarett Coleman Flew To Upset Win Over Pat Browne In 16th District

By Bob Small

Jarett Coleman, a professional pilot, was flying high in his upset GOP primary victory over long-term Lehigh County State Senator Pat Browne of the 16th District. The most recent count, as of June 3, was 17,041 to 17,022.

The 16th Senatorial District consists of Allentown and along with Alburtis, Coopersburg, Heidelberg Township, Lower Macungie Township, Lower Milford Township, Lowhill Township, Lynn Township, Macungie, North Whitehall Township, Slatington, South Whitehall Township, Upper Macungie Township, Upper Milford Township, Upper Saucon Township, Washington Township, Weisenberg Township,

Pat Browne served almost three decades in the Pennsylvania House and Senate. At the time of this election, he was the Pennsylvania Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman, a post he had held since 2014. Having spent a decade in the State House representing the 131st District, he was elected to the State Senate in 2005.

Jarett Coleman Flew To Upset Win Over Pat Browne In 16th District
Jarrett Coleman

Among Browne’s accomplishments was his role as the founding Chairman of the Arts and Culture Caucus and the author of laws encouraging businesses to hire citizens with disabilities. 

Jarrett Coleman serves on the Parkland School Board where he works against CRT (Critical Race Theory) and mask mandates, and for greater transparency by the schools to parents in terms of the school curriculum.

During the campaign, Coleman pledged that he would decline pension and perks, support term limits, and oppose tax hikes. It will be interesting to follow his progress regarding these pledges.

He lives in Breinigsville with his wife, two children and three dogs.

After nearly three decades serving as a Lehigh Valley lawmaker, State Senator Pat Browne has a short answer when asked, “What’s next?” 

“I have no idea,” he said in an interview with WLVR.

Jarett Coleman Flew To Upset Win Over Pat Browne In 16th District

Remember The York County Upsets, Establishment Bosses

Remember The York County Upsets

By Bob Small

Normally, I wouldn’t discuss political goings-on in York County, a hundred miles from Swarthmore and Delaware County.  After all, what could possibly happen there that is meaningful to us in Delco?

However, at this time a very effective rebellion has taken place in York, and two long-term GOP incumbents have been upset.  Both chaired their respective Appropriations Committees and we will discuss Keith Gillespie’s even more surprising loss in an upcoming post.

These losses led York County GOP Chairman Jeff Piccola to resign within minutes of the polls closing.

Remember The York County Upsets, Establishment Bosses
Wendy Fink

The 94th District consists of 14 towns: Chanceford Township, Delta, East Prospect, Felton, Lower Chanceford Township, Lower Windsor Township, Peach Bottom Township, Red Lion, Stewartstown, Windsor, Windsor Township, Winterstown, Yorkana, and parts of Springettsbury Township.  This district had been a GOP stronghold since 1969. Prior to that, seats were apportioned by county.

Representative Stan Saylor was defeated by Wendy Fink, who had 5,408 votes to Saylor’s 4,300. Mike Jones (R-93rd) was one of the most prominent people to support her insurgency. Keep in mind that Saylor served almost three decades in politics and described himself as the “most conservative House Appropriations Chairman in decades”, yet, he was defeated.

“This victory really belongs to the people,” Ms. Fink said. “They came out. They made their voices heard. They demanded change, and I look forward to serving them in any way that I can.”

Piccola had sought to have Mike Jones censured by the party for his endorsement of Wendy Fink. The party, quite rightly, refused to comply.

Wendy Jo Fink, like many state representatives of both stripes, has promised to eliminate school property taxes. If she finds the magic formula to eliminate school property taxes without reducing school funding, we may want her to present her formula in Delco.

Leo Knepper, the political director of the Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania (CAP) said “Just because you have an ‘R’ behind your name doesn’t mean you’re doing the right thing.” 

Citizens Alliance for Pennsylvania took some credit for some of these victories.  See their website for information.

Let me end with the Democratic perspective. Democratic Appropriations Chairman Matt Bradford (D-70)  has said “Compromise has become a dirty word.” He worries that the ideological wing of the Republican Party is growing, while the governing wing is shrinking.”

Incumbent Dem Loses In 194th Primary After Being Outspent 10 To 1

Incumbent Dem Loses In 194th Primary After Being Outspent 10 To 1

By Bob Small

In one of the five most expensive Pennsylvania Democratic State House races, Tarik Khan beat incumbent Pamela DeLissio in the primary after outspending her, 10 to one.

Khan spent $283,705 to Ms. DeLissio’s $27,488. He received 59.9% of the vote to her 40.1%.

Since the GOP did not field a candidate, Tarik will be the next representative from the 194th District.

The 194th includes part of Lower Merion Township and part of Philadelphia, and is traditionally Democrat. Its best known representative ever may have been Herbert Fineman, who was forced to resign.

Incumbent Dem Loses In 194th Primary After Being Outspent 10 To 1
Tarik Khan

Khan is a University of Pennsylvania nursing PhD student. He received his masters degree in nursing from LaSalle University and is employed as a family nurse practitioner at Philly’s Abbotsford-Falls Health Center. He has been a lifelong political activist.

The son of a Pakistani immigrant, Khan speaks of “growing up as a Muslim kid with a Catholic mother in a Jewish neighborhood”.  As a nurse, he is following his mother’s career path. 

The biggest contributors to Khan’s campaign were family, $32,000; the 314 Action Victory Science Fund, $27,500; and Impact PAC Federal,                           $15,000.

Khan said he also “received over 1,000 contributions from about 700 individuals”. One wonders about the current cost to run successfully for public office in this state and, indeed, in this country.

Ms. DeLissio has served as representative since 2011.  She has a record of holding 116 town-hall meetings over the past ten years, and just held her 118th such meeting last week. She chaired the Children and Youth Committee.

Incumbent Dem Loses In 194th Primary After Being Outspent 10 To 1

John Lawrence Pressed On Voting Concerns In Chesco

John Lawrence Pressed On Voting Concerns In Chesco — Good for Carmela Ciliberti who is keeping the pressure on Pennsylvania State Rep. John Lawrence (R-13), especially regarding voter integrity.

She sent the below letter in which she pointed out that Chester County’s Board of Elections provided an insufficient amount of Republican Primary ballots to the West Nottingham precinct and that for hours Republicans were turned away from the ballot box.

“Were these voters notified when more ballots were delivered?” she said. “How many of these voters had the ability to return to cast their ballot?”

She says the cause of the issue is Act 77, a law for which Lawrence voted.

“Prior to Act 77, the county board would have been required to provide 1,100 Republican ballots to the West Nottingham precinct; enough to cover the increased voter participation during the the May 17 Primary,” she said. “However, due to Act 77, the county board was only required to provide approximately 100 Republican ballots thereby preventing hundreds of Republican voters from exercising their constitutional right.”

Carmela ran an unsuccessful challenge to the establishment-favored incumbent in the May primary.

John Lawrence Pressed On Voting Concerns In Chesco -- Good for Carmela Ciliberti who is keeping the pressure on Pennsylvania State Rep. John Lawrence (R-13)
John Lawrence Pressed On Voting Concerns In Chesco

Kazeem KOs Kirkland In 159th Race

Kazeem KOs Kirkland In 159th Race

By Bob Small

For the first time in nearly three decades, there will not be a Kirkland as the state representative for the 159th State House district in Harrisburg. Thaddeus Kirkland served from 1993 to 2016 and was succeeded by Brian Joseph Kirkland, his nephew. Thaddeus Kirkland then became the mayor of Chester after leaving the State Rep job and is now the Director of Public Affairs in the city of Chester

The revised parameters of the 159th are Chester,  Eddystone, Lower Chichester Township, Marcus Hook, Parkside,  Trainer, and Upper Chichester Township.  Chester is the only city in Delco.  Founded in 1682 by William Penn, it is also the oldest city in Pennsy.

Kazeem KOs Kirkland In 159th Race
Carol Kazeem

Carol Kazeem, who ran a grassroots campaign as a citizen-activist, got approximately 56 percent of the vote.  She promises to have “power returned to the people”.  She is employed as a trauma outreach specialist.  She garnered plenty of support during her speech on election night, including that of Chester city-council member Stefan Roots and his campaign manager, Todd Strine, co-owner of the Swarthmorean newspaper.

During the campaign, there was a misstep by Kirkland’s campaign staff, which incorrectly listed the AFL-CIO and PSEA (Pennsylvania State Education Association) as supporters of Kirkland.  However, PSEA endorsed  his opponent, and the AFL-CIO did not endorse anyone in this race.  Kirkland’s campaign based these listings on prior endorsements and “simply assumed this would be the case again”. This misstep received major play in various media.

Overall, this primary season there were numerous incumbents who lost their races for various offices. Is this perhaps a harbinger of changes to come? I will discuss this in an upcoming blog.

Kazeem KOs Kirkland In 159th Race

Swarthmore Getting New State Rep

Swarthmore Getting New State Rep

By Bob Small

Besides the State wide elections, there were other elections on Primary Day. Some of these elections may actually be just as important to our day-to-day lives.

On May 17, for the first time in four election cycles , not one vote in Swarthmore was cast for Leanne Kruger-Braneky aka Leanne Kruger. The ballot was a matter of shock and dismay for those Swarthmoreans unaware that the last census had caused the Legislative Reapportionment Commission to move Swarthmore out of the 161st District into the 165th.

She was first elected in 2015 as Leanne Kruger-Braneky, but sometime over the past few terms the couple divorced and thus, she lost her hyphenated name. Though originally from New Jersey, she has been granted “unofficial Swarthmore citizenship. “ My experience is that she, or her office, knew what to do for what we call “constituent service”, helping anyone who needed to weave through the labyrinthine government bureaucracy, without it being dependent on “party” or any inside knowledge, which is the way it should be but normally isn’t.  We will miss her for the example she set.

Swarthmore Getting New State Rep
Leanne Kruger no longer in Swarthmore

Leanne will be facing Ed Mongeluzzo in November for her new position.

He is focusing on outreach to veterans. According to his website and Facebook posts, his finances are almost nil.  Hopefully, the GOP  will realize he is running against a Democrat and provide support.

The replacement legislator, now that Swarthmore is the 165th, is Jennifer O’Mara.  Jennifer comes from a blue collar background and  has an inspiring backstory.   She is both a graduate and an employee of the fabled University of Pennsylvania.  Jennifer believes “there is more that unites us than divides us”.

As Chris Freind has pointed out, however, she has a free ride in November.

This would be the same free ride the Congressional Candidates in our congressional, 3, 13, and 14 have this November. 

Wonder how that happened?

Hopefully, someone(s) from the Constitution, Green, or Libertarian Party or even an Independent candidate will  get the requisite signatures to be on some of these ballots.   

Otherwise, why waste the space on the ballot?

Swarthmore Getting New State Rep