DV Journal

Dolores Troiani, a lawyer representing the Chester County Republican Committee, sent the county Board of Elections (BOE) three letters demanding that more Republicans be appointed as poll workers and expressing other concerns.

“We were asked by Voter Services to work with you. We proposed to work with you. We presented people who were Republicans in areas where you have only Democrats [working at the polls]” Troiani told a BOE meeting Monday.

The BOE did not respond to her letters.

“And then you wonder why people get up here and admonish you. Why would people think that you’re somehow or other engaging in nefarious activities? Well, that’s why. You never respond. You’re required by the Sunshine Act to deliberate in public or to respond in public. And you just don’t do that.”

In some precincts, there are no Republican election officials. The judge, minority, and majority inspector are all Democrats, she said.

In her Nov. 1 letter, Troiani wrote: “In Coatesville 90, the judge of elections and majority inspector are elected Democrats, and you have appointed a Democrat as a minority inspector. We propose substituting two Republicans to share the duties of a minority inspector. In Coatesville 120, you have appointed a Democrat as a judge of elections and there does not appear to be any minority inspector.

“We have proposed two Republicans who have agreed to share the duties of minority inspector on November 5. In Honeybrook 300, it is our understanding that the judge of elections, who is an elected Republican, will not be serving. We propose that you appoint Sharon Meyer to replace the elected JOE. As to Nottingham for 10 W, it is our understanding that the elected Republican judge of elections will not be serving and we propose that you substitute Robert Russell, for that position.

There does not appear to be a judge of elections for 225 E. Fallowfield, 375 E. Nantmeal, 472 Phoenixville, 565 Spring City, 345 London Grove and Tredyffrin 615 and no minority inspector for 290 Highland. If that is correct, what is the proposal for those precincts?”

Commissioner Josh Maxwell told her, “If we do, we will respond through our solicitor.”

But later in the meeting, minority Republican Commissioner Eric Roe offered amendments to the appointments motion to add Republican Robert Russell as judge of elections in West Nottingham and five people as election clerks at various precincts.

Those were approved and Troiani thanked Roe.

“Our problem is we have tried to work with voter services and this board You’ve appointed 2,324 people without any consideration…on Oct. 1, we came to you with additional people and asked that they be trained.”

But the board refused because it already had its resolution, she said.

“We could not get a copy of that resolution until Oct. 31,” said Troiani. “This is not representative government. This is not your job to hide. It’s your job to be transparent. And there is no way that you can presume this is transparency. I’m asking you to change that policy.”

She is also concerned about the 2 percent audit of machines required by the state.

“Why can’t you ask the people who represent over 40 percent of your citizens for input. Why can’t you even tell us how you arrived at the reasons that you picked certain precincts [to be audited]?” she asked.

However, the board did not address Troiani’s concerns further.

Troiani told DVJournal that the county commissioners accused her of harassing someone and threatened to refer her to the district attorney “for the crime of disagreeing with their legal interpretation.”

“As with all bullies when confronted, the solicitor immediately stated that it probably wasn’t me,” she said. “As stated in the letter, we represent a diverse group of Republicans and we refuse to be silent, or intimidated, even in the face of being called conspiracy theorists and other unfounded accusations.  As inquiries are sent to us, we send them on to an unresponsive government.”

Another issue the BOE did not address is the more than 20 Republicans who applied for mail-in ballots and received return envelopes with a fold.

“We do not want anyone disenfranchised but we want a free and fair election in which we can all have confidence. The silence from the Board of Elections only fosters more mistrust,” she said.

The Pennsylvania Senate State Government Committee approved the state House’s proposed map outlining 17 new congressional districts on a party-line vote this week, sending it to the full Senate for a final.

The proposal, already approved by the House, will face fierce partisan debate as ongoing negotiations over a separate Senate map continue behind closed doors. The issue became more complex after Gov. Tom Wolf surprisingly revealed two new proposed maps Saturday, despite repeatedly promising he would not participate in the process.

The deadline for passage set by the Department of State for final approval is next week. A Commonwealth Court said the judiciary will take over the process by Jan. 30.

It remains unlikely Wolf would sign a bill containing the House map if it were passed by the Senate as is—he wrote a public letter in December castigating it after it passed the House.

However, the bill will likely be amended before a final vote is taken.

During the Senate committee meeting, Sen. Katie Muth (D-Chester) voiced concern over changes she believes the maps needs including alteration to address “prison gerrymandering.”

“It’s fair to say that everything is still on the table,” Sen. David Argall (R- Berks/Schuylkill), chairman of the Senate committee, said in response.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect map,” Argall told Delaware Valley Journal. “We’re continuing to negotiate with Senate Democrats. The hearing later this week will look at the governor’s map and will look at some other alternatives. We know we have a firm deadline and we’re steadily moving forward.”

While the House map faces scrutiny on the Senate floor in the coming days, alternative maps not only hang over the process but are multiplying as the deadline looms.

Wolf issued a press release Saturday unveiling a new proposal that favors Democrats, which he called “examples.”

“Throughout the congressional redistricting process, I have publicly outlined the requirements for a fair map that I would consider signing,” Wolf said in the press release. “While the House Republican map does not comply with those basic principles, I am highlighting two maps that do.”

An analysis done by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project on behalf of The Philadelphia Inquirer found Wolf’s proposal would create nine districts favoring Democrats and eight favoring Republicans.

Republican legislative leaders were not happy with the map, or the timing of Wolf’s proposal.

“Over the last six months, the House Republican Caucus championed and led the most transparent congressional redistricting process in Pennsylvania history,” Speaker of the House Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) and House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre/Mifflin) said in a statement. “Over that same period, the Wolf administration either ignored or publicly admonished our repeated good faith attempts to work collaboratively toward a final congressional map.

“By releasing his maps today, Gov. Wolf is completing the final play of his well-worn playbook of refusing to work with the legislature on substantive issues, waiting until the clock has nearly run out, and then changing his mind and attempting to issue a unilateral ultimatum that is devoid of all sincerity of effort.”

A third, bipartisan option drafted by Sens. Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia) and Argall caused public strife between Democrats after it was leaked in December.

U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle told the Inquirer he believed Street was “conspiring with Republicans to push a gerrymandered Republican map for personal political gain.”

An updated version of the Senate map has not yet been made public.

If the Jan 24 deadline to enact a new map is not met, a few courses of action could happen: The spring primary election could be pushed back as negotiations continue, the state courts could step in and enforce an interim map, or all 17 districts could turn into at-large districts in which voters statewide choose candidates in each.

The state has been using an interim map made by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court since 2018, which swung four districts from Republican to Democrat in the following election.

With lawsuits pre-filed in state courts by national Democratic groups, Wolf publicly dissatisfied with all maps but his own Democrat-friendly options, and the Republican-controlled General Assembly still far from coming to a compromise that Wolf will sign, it appears the court is poised to step in this time as well.

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