The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

May 22, 2009

UPDATE: Absentee vote tally doesn’t change school board races

By Joe Pinchot

MERCER COUNTY — Mercer County elections office completed its count of absentee votes, but the tallies did not scramble the results from the general election in three close races.

Some winners and losers in school board races in Hermitage, Farrell and West Middlesex were separated by seven or fewer votes in the unofficial vote count, and the absentee ballots did not upset that balance.

The updated results are posted on the county Web site.

In the Hermitage race, newcomer Robert Mancino remained the top vote-getter on the Democratic slate with 520, followed by incumbent Dr. Morren J. Greenburg, 509, newcomer Angela Roberts, 436, and newcomer Paul H. Paoletta, 414. Their names will appear on the ballot in the fall.

Incumbent Timothy Kizak remained one vote short of Paoletta’s total, and newcomer Lucy Donnarummo Nicastro followed with 411.

Newcomer Wendy Davis-Gill also was on the ballot and received 287 votes, but has moved from the district and said she is no longer a candidate

On the Republican side, only Mancino, Kizak, Greenburg and Davis-Gill ran.

Ms. Davis-Gill officially notified elections officials that she is withdrawing from the race, said Jeff Greenburg, director of registration and election. Once the election tallies are official, Jeff Greenburg said he will notify the Republican party of the vacancy, and the party will have until Sept. 14 to choose a replacement candidate.

In the fall, voters will select from Mancino, Dr. Greenburg, Ms. Roberts, Paoletta, Kizak and the replacement candidate for four seats.

In the Farrell, race, with only Democrats running, the primary tallies effectively settled the issue. Incumbent Lester Robinson Jr. was the top vote-getter with 436, and he will be joined on the board by newcomer Berry U. Holloway III, 408; incumbent Ronald Weston, 347; and incumbent Larry Manilla, 342.

Newcomer Isaac Fields fell six votes short of Manilla, and newcomer Otto B. Jackson Jr. took in 244 votes.

The West Middlesex campaign will remain a five-horse race in the fall — Douglas Hazlett, Troy Mild, Deb Wojtalik, Tracy Hemminger and Gina Reed.

Newcomer Hazlett was the top vote-getter with both parties, garnering 399 Democratic tallies and 317 Republican nods. Newcomer Mild also did well, with 342 Democratic votes and 304 Republican ones. Incumbent Ms. Wojtalik came in third on the Democratic side with 256 votes and fourth on Republican slate with 165 tallies.

Incumbent Hemminger will be the fourth candidate on the Democratic ticket thanks to his 239 votes. He took in one more than newcomer Ms. Reed. Hemminger did not pick up any votes from absentee ballots, but Ms. Reed picked up only six extra votes.

Also garnering votes were on the Democratic side were Frank L. Harkless, 222; Yvonne J. Hassell, 164; Marko Zrile, 166; and Dennis A. De Silvey, 154.

On the Republican side, Harkless and Ms. Wojtalik picked up the same number of absentee votes, and Harkless remained seven votes shy. He was followed by Hemminger, 147; De Silvey, 126; Zrile, 124; and Ms. Hassell, 114.

Jeff Greenburg said he hopes his office can complete the write-in vote count by mid-week. He said he knows of two races where the Mercer County Board of Elections will need to decide the race by interpreting variances of names that people wrote in. For example, if someone wrote John Smith and someone else wrote Jon Smith, the board will have to decide if the voters intended to vote for the same person.

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