Democrats’ use of “green sheet” ballots has some Montgomery County Republicans seeing red.
It’s not uncommon for political parties to hand out sample ballots, particularly in nonpartisan local elections, to help partisans pick the candidates who share their political values.
Traditionally, Republicans have handed out their sample ballots listing the party’s endorsed candidates on green paper.
But this year, a group of Democratic activists called PV Forward mailed green ballots with Democrats running for Perkiomen Valley School Board marked as the endorsed candidates. Adding to the confusion, the mailer also marked actual Republican choices in other races as the endorsed candidate.
An unknowing voter would see the green sheet and likely assume they were the GOP-backed candidates, when they were actually Democrats who had also cross-filed as Republicans.
People running for school board often cross-file as both Republican and Democratic candidates in these (theoretically) nonpartisan elections. Sometimes, the cross-filed candidates can win both their own primary and the other party’s as well, allowing them to run uncontested in November.
Tactics like these are why the parties use sample ballots, and why Perkiomen Valley Republicans are so upset by the misleading green-sheet Democrat documents.
After receiving complaints, Montgomery County Republican Committee chair Christian Nascimento took action.
Lawyers for the GOP filed a complaint in court asking a judge to order the Democrats to cease and desist their deceptive political handout.
“This action arises from PV Forward’s intentional and deceptive use and dissemination of political materials titled ‘Republican Sample Ballot’ designed to mimic the design, color, and format of the Committee’s authentic sample ballots,” the complaint said.
“The purpose and foreseeable effect of these counterfeit ballots is to mislead Republican voters into casting a vote for Democrats who have cross-filed in the Republican Primary, ultimately leaving voters without any Republican options at the general election. PAC Defendants’ actions are deliberately calculated to undermine the electoral process and disenfranchise Montgomery County voters, deceptively presenting candidates as Republican-endorsed, when in fact they are not.”
The judge agreed, ruling in favor of the GOP.
“Our friends on the left side of the aisle love ‘election integrity’ and they’re super concerned about following election law to a T,” said Christian Nascimento, chair of the Montgomery County Republican Committee. “Just like VE Day, they’re going to be rescinding those ballots. Our PV team is super excited about that.”
Nascimento said the party will file similar actions in other places where Democrats have done the same.
“We will protect the integrity of our elections, our green ballot, and our endorsed candidates,” he said.
Jason Salus, the chair of the Montgomery County Democratic Committee, did not respond to requests for comment.
