Pennsylvania County Fights Open Records Decisions Regarding Elections; Why The Fear? — Robert Mancini of Media filed right-to-know requests last year for public records relating to elections in Delaware County, Pa., which the county rejected.
Mancini wanted to know who installed the software on the voting machines, the date it was it installed, and the hash code of the software installed. He also wanted to know who requested absentee ballots at the county level; email correspondence between the Fort Orange Press of Albany, N.Y., which prints the county’s election ballots, along with the names of those requesting the ballots. He also wanted the number voter lists, a list of those removed from voter list for reasons such as deaths and moving, and the 90-day report on how the money from the election integrity grant received from the county was spent.
Mancini appealed to Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records which overruled the county and said that Mancini had a right to the info.
After hemming and hawing, the Democrats who run Delco conceded these four and Mancini awaits the documents.
However, the county is appealing these four to Common Pleas Court.
Why the fight? The county’s actions make it impossible not to go “hmmm, what are they hiding?”
Tens of thousands of Delaware County residents believe the elections are rigged here. This is troubling and dangerous.
Yet, there is no innocent explanation for the county’s actions.
What Mancini wants are obviously things to which the public has a right. Correspondence with a vender? The number of voters who cast a ballot in a precinct in Marple? The mail-in ballot applications the printer received? Who installed what software on certain voting machines in Marple?
Provide a reason for these to be secret.
Other than corruption, of course.
And why does the county have to go to New York to get a printer for Pennsylvania ballots?
A final question: Why isn’t the Delco GOP speaking out for Mancini? This isn’t about calling into question elections. This is about convincing the public that the elections are trustworthy.
This is about good governance and common sense.
Again, what the county is doing only raises suspicion.
Bill, good points all, from you. Perhaps I missed it, but is there further information/data on other such RTK requests on elections and their current or ultimate disposition that would give a state-by-state perspective on election integrity? Yes, this is a pretty broad question, but I’m looking for a reliable starting point to try and get “the big picture” BEFORE the next presidential. It’s amazing, as you point out–amazingly stupid–that any political entity wouldn’t want to build trust among the electorate by building trust in the election system. What is the next step for Delco voters, presuming this and similar RTKs receive no response? Who has oversight authority and how could a request for investigation be undertaken? Would such authority have to come from out of state to ensure objectivity?
Every state has its own policy and I doubt there is a centralized data base for everything.
If Robert loses at Common Pleas Court he appeals to Commonwealth Court if he wishes & then Supreme Court.
If he wins at Common Pleas Court, the county has to give him the information he is seeking, or they can appeal.
The curious thing is why the fight.
Many requesters in Delco have been fighting the county for Right to Know records. The current Delco Council members ran for office promising transparency, yet they do everything they can to hide records from the public, particularly election records. Vote them out this year!