A Luzerne County Council majority voted Tuesday to ask the county District Attorney’s Office to investigate the May 18 primary election.
Councilman Walter Griffith proposed the DA election investigation request, citing an on-screen ballot mislabeling error and other problems that caused many voters to be “disenfranchised and concerned about the integrity of the election process.”
It was unanimously approved by all 10 council members present, with Linda McClosky Houck absent.
County DA Sam Sanguedolce was not in attendance but said Tuesday night his office will investigate any allegations of potential criminal conduct relating to the May primary.
He said his predecessor, Stefanie Salavantis, created an Election Fraud Task Force that remains intact and will review anything forwarded to the office.
“Without integrity in our elections, the public cannot trust the remainder of our democratic process,” Sanguedolce said.
Dominion Voting Systems Inc., which supplied and programs the devices, said “human error” at the company caused the data entry typographical mistake that put a Democratic header at the top of Republican ballots. The county administration also acknowledged the county did not test the ballots after they were programmed into the machines, relying on the company to do that task.
Griffith’s resolution asks the DA’s office to investigate Dominion’s practices and procedures in programming and set-up of the primary ballot, the county election bureau’s review and testing and the election board’s role in election equipment oversight and security.
The DA’s office and its detectives have power to investigate and come back with findings, Griffith said. If there is no criminal activity, the DA can report that so voters have reassurance, he said.
Council Chairman Tim McGinley also announced he will be scheduling a discussion about the Dominion contract and possible options related to the company at council’s next work session June 8.
Councilman Matthew Vough said he believes council must look at getting rid of Dominion due to its performance in the primary.
Several other council members agreed with his assessment.
Councilwoman Sheila Saidman said the company has “done a very poor job” and that the county must “get to the bottom of what happened” with the ballot mislabeling.
“We can’t afford another election to cause this confusion,” Saidman said. “I think it was a disastrous election.”
“This has got to stop. We are undermining faith in the system,” Councilman Harry Haas said.
Councilwoman Kendra Radle said “who dropped the ball” needs to be examined.
“For voters to have trust, we need to find out exactly what happened,” said Councilwoman LeeAnn McDermott.