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Just finished a chat with Republican Elections Board member Sam DeMarco to ask about his "no" vote on Allegheny County Elections certification.
He is calling it a protest vote. Not because of fraud or any wrongdoing, he says ALL voters should have faith in the results.
Just finished a chat with Republican Elections Board member Sam DeMarco to ask about his "no" vote on Allegheny County Elections certification.
He is calling it a protest vote. Not because of fraud or any wrongdoing, he says ALL voters should have faith in the results.
DeMarco is critical of the Republican legislature AND Democratic Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar.
His key point: No one worked together to pass things that would have contributed to a smooth election administration.
His key point: No one worked together to pass things that would have contributed to a smooth election administration.
DeMarco says the legislature should have passed something. The governor should have worked with the legislature instead of going through the courts. That the courts rulings yielded changes NOT in Act 77, and Kathy Boockvar's guidance to counties created more confusion.
DeMarco specifically expressed frustration with rulings/lack of action on Dropboxes, Signature matching, Precanvassing and observation at satellite voting locations.
He says Act 77 was passed in bipartisan way, & there were changes to the law before the June primary that helped.
He says Act 77 was passed in bipartisan way, & there were changes to the law before the June primary that helped.
However, DeMarco says no laws were passed BETWEEN June and November that would have corrected big problems that popped up during the June primary.
Precanvassing got a lot of attention, but DeMarco wants legislative changes to Act 77 that will create more standardization.
Precanvassing got a lot of attention, but DeMarco wants legislative changes to Act 77 that will create more standardization.
To be clear, DeMarco said he saw no fraud, said that Republican and Democratic observers were treated the same.
"Again, to be clear, I personally witnessed NO fraud at the warehouse or any place else," DeMarco told me.
He says his no vote was to bring attention and fix the law.
"Again, to be clear, I personally witnessed NO fraud at the warehouse or any place else," DeMarco told me.
He says his no vote was to bring attention and fix the law.
I also spoke to Democratic member of the board Bethany Hallam who, to an extent, agrees things were confusing.
"I will completely agree with my colleague, Councilman DeMarco, that there was so much conflicting information that was being put out," Hallam told me.
"I will completely agree with my colleague, Councilman DeMarco, that there was so much conflicting information that was being put out," Hallam told me.
Hallam says she has confidence the election was administered in accordance with the law, even though guidance changed as much as it did.
She also understands how it could have been confusing for voters.
Like DeMarco, she's hoping for changes before next year's primaries.
She also understands how it could have been confusing for voters.
Like DeMarco, she's hoping for changes before next year's primaries.
Bottom line here: Hallam and DeMarco agree that there need to be some changes to the law to make all this go more smoothly, and to give ALL people MORE confidence in the vote and the process.
We'll have more on the certification starting at 5 tonight.
#WTAE
We'll have more on the certification starting at 5 tonight.
#WTAE
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