Pike Dems see possible illegal primary

Ask PA Bureau of Elections to supervise

By TOM KANE

MILFORD, PA - The Pike County Democratic Committee is after the newly appointed director of the county’s election bureaužagain.

In what appears to be a “proofing mistake,” Yolanda Goldsack mailed out about 100 absentee ballots, which incorrectly listed a “majority inspector of elections” and a “minority inspector of elections” as valid positions to be voted upon in the primary on May 15. The ballot should have named only one inspector of elections.

“She saw the error and corrected it immediately by mailing out a second corrected ballot at next to no expense to taxpayers,” said Pike County Commissioners Chairman Harry Forbes.

But that didn’t wash with some Democrats.

A letter written by Pike County Democratic Committee Chairman Phil Scollo to the PA Bureau of Elections suggested that the mistake might jeopardize the legality of the upcoming primary and perhaps the November election as well.

He further said, “A series of similar events has caused us to question the director’s competency and whether she is serving as a de-facto instrument of Republican Party manipulation.”

Three months ago, a storm of objections resulted from Democratic circles when the two Republican commissioners appointed Goldsack, a known Republican activist, to the position of director of the county’s bureau of elections when the third commissioner, Karl Wagner, was away on vacation.

Wagner said that he was not opposed to the Goldsack appointment, although he had wanted someone else.

“Ms. Goldsack has already overseen the removal of two Democratic candidates on technicalities,” said Elizabeth Forrest of Dingmans Ferry. “Many voters have already cast their absentee ballots. Now, there is a second ballot coming. Will voters see a second ballot and think it was a duplicate? If they do not return the second ballot, will the first ballot be invalidated?”

At the end of his letter to the PA Bureau of Elections, Scollo said, “I am imploring the engagement of your office to supervise the activities of our county board of elections and guide us through the upcoming primary and November electoral process.”

“The department never interferes in local elections,” said Harry Van Sickle, Commissioner of the Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation in Harrisburg. “The conducting of elections is a county matter,” he said.

Van Sickle said his office was going to research the details of the Democrat’s objections.

“I don’t see an insurmountable problem,” he said. “Mistakes are made often. This looks like an honest mistake. Once it was discovered, it was quickly dealt with.”

The primary election in Pennsylvania will be held on May 15.