Plaintiffs Accuse Delco Of Staging Evidence — The plaintiffs in the case regarding access to Delaware County election envelopes from the 2023 primary election are accusing Delaware County officials of “preparing and staging materials” in anticipation of the July 11 hearing before Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.
The plaintiffs are Republican County Council candidate Joy Schwartz; and election integrity activists Gregory Stenstrom, Leah Hoopes and Paul Rumley.
Defendants are Al Schmidt, acting secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Delaware County; Delaware County Park Police Department; Delaware County Director of Elections James Allen; and Delaware County Park Police Chief John S. Diehl.
Allen and Diehl are being sued in their personal capacities.
The plaintiffs say there is a 14,289 ballot disparity between what was observed being counted at the county’s Wharf Centralized Counting Center and the 24,289 recorded the night of the May 16 election.
A request to examine the ballot envelopes was initially fought by the county who then conceded to it just before an expected ruling by Commonwealth Court.
This June 2 examination was called off, however, when the county insisted on covering the envelope signatures, which are not just public record but the only way to determine if the envelope came from a legitimate voter.
The envelope signatures cannot reveal how a vote was cast and the names of those who vote are obviously and necessarily public information.
The plaintiffs again appealed to Commonwealth Court.
In their latest filing, they say:
- The BOE has been active in the Wharf Centralized Counting Center setting up plastic barriers on the tables next to the envelope racks, and continuing to stage boxes with unknown contents in the secure storage room with closed door access immediately next to the expended, opened Mail In Ballot (MIB) racks.
- Multiple people have access to the back office and side storage room. This room has two access doors to the back office where there are no cameras, and to the main counting room door next to the racks where they are storing expended MIB envelopes.
- In 2020, Plaintiff Gregory Stenstrom was told by Delaware County, Clerk of Elections, Laureen Hagan that only she and James Allen had keys to the storage area where there are controlled election results that include primarily ballot bags from the precincts with cast ballots. Multiple people entering and exiting these areas without access control and sign in / out, is a problem by itself, as these are official election records.
- On June 21st, 2023, Lauren Hagan, BOE (Bureau of Elections) IT (Information Technology) Director Robert Wright, and an unidentified male BOE employee, were observed entering the back storage room together (Camera 9) with a hand cart and placing brown cardboard boxes, that were on the floor behind stacked precinct ballot bags out of sight of the cameras, onto the cart. The boxes are somewhat heavy based on the effort they exerted lifting them and estimated to be about 20-30 pounds. They were placed on the cart and wheeled next to the door that opens next to the racks of expended MIB envelopes.
- On June 23rd, 2023, Robert Wright supervised two BOE employees setting up large clear plastic barriers with a slot on the bottom, placing them on the 8’x4′ card tables set up next to the racks that are lined up along the windows with opaque plastic boxes with blue folding lids that contain expended MIB envelopes.
- Also on June 23 , 2023, another unidentified male wheeled in another hand truck with two brown cardboard boxes sealed with red tape and a white shoe box into the room, transferring the boxes to the hand truck staged by the door that opens to the racks with the expended MIB envelopes, and the right rear corner of the main counting room.
- The unidentified male returns to the hand car by the door with access to the MIB racks, after wheeling the hand cart he used to wheel the (new) boxes in the room and seems concerned with the logo and label and moves the white shoe box on top of the newly placed brown cardboard boxes.
- In the videos of remarkable behavior to date, IT Director Robert Wright appears to be acting in a supervisory role, and is aware of the public access monitoring cameras.
- The County BOE seem to be preparing and staging materials in anticipation of the July 11th, 2023, hearing at the Commonwealth Court and a subsequent order from the Court that Plaintiffs be granted their Act 77 rights to inspect the expended MIB envelopes for their declarations.
The entire filing sent is below:
The reason why two-thirds of this country are convinced that our elections have become untrustworthy is behavior like this. The good people in our government have to defend transparency and put an end to the strange games being played by officials in Delaware County and elsewhere.
There is no honest reason to hide those envelopes or their signatures.
