Westmoreland
County Lawsuit Has Hearing in PA Commonwealth Court
Will citizens get
their say on electronic voting machine referendum?
Attorneys representing a group
of Westmoreland County voters, the Westmoreland county commissioners
and election board, and the Pennsylvania Department of State
began duking it out in Commonwealth Court on Tuesday in a lawsuit.
At stake is a Pennsylvania constitutional issue, and whether
or not citizens should have the opportunity to vote in a referendum
on the move to electronic voting under the Help America Vote
Act.
The object of the lawsuit filed
by the voters is a provision in the Pennsylvania State Constitution
that requires a referendum be placed on the ballot prior to a
county moving to voting by machine. The Pennsylvania Department
of State and other entities have taken the position that the
referendum is not needed because HAVA, as a federal law requiring
that older lever machines and other systems be replaced, overrides
state law.
"Not so fast," the
voter/plaintiffs who filed the suit are saying. The Help America
Vote Act, as a federal law, may trump a normal state law in regard
to federal elections, but getting into whether or not it can
trump a state constitution is another matter. Charles Pascal,
Jr. of Leechburg PA is representing the multi-partisan citizens
group which in addition to regular voters includes several precinct
election officials, a school board member, and state senator
Jim Ferlo who represents part of Westmoreland County. Similar
lawsuits have been filed in at least three other Pennsylvania
counties.
Witnesses called on behalf
of the county and state included State Department Policy Director
William Boehm, and Mark Wolosik and Paula Pedicone who are the
respective election directors of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.
Following testimony, Judge Dante Pellegrini heard arguments from
both sides. He will issue a ruling in a few days pending receipt
of additional briefs and filings.
All parties agreed that there
are weighty constitutional and voters rights issues at play here,
as well as the potential loss of millions of dollars of HAVA
funding if new voting systems are not delivered and operational
by the deadline of the May 16 Pennsylvania Primary. Regardless
of the outcome, the ruling is expected to be appealed.