Local attorney Neil O’Donnell said he will be filing court paperwork today on behalf of Wilkes-Barre Mayor George C. Brown’s campaign, attempting to force Luzerne County’s Election Board to tally primary election write-in votes in which voters did not fill in the oval next to the write-in line.
Based on legal advice, the county election board had taken the position that the oval must be shaded in next to the name for a write-in to be accepted.
O’Donnell said a legal filing was the only recourse when it became clear the election board would not be tallying write-in votes without shaded ovals. The board’s adjudication of write-in votes started Tuesday.
“Our view is that the act of voting is writing in the name,” O’Donnell said.
He said he is confident the Brown campaign’s legal position is supported by the state election code.
The campaign is hopeful Brown will have enough votes to receive the Republican nomination. Brown secured the Democratic nomination with 2,396 votes and had no opposition.
On the Republican side, Harry L. Cropp III appeared on the ballot with no Republican opposition and secured 453 votes, according to the unofficial results. The county reported a total 363 write-in Republican votes in that race, but representatives of Brown’s campaign said this number only covers those with the shaded ovals.
O’Donnell said he is hopeful Brown has enough votes to win the Republican nomination. Even if he does not, O’Donnell said this matter goes beyond which candidate is victorious.
“When people vote, their vote should count. That’s the larger issue,” O’Donnell said.
Brown was unavailable for comment Tuesday evening due to other commitments, according to a representative who responded on his behalf.
O’Donnell said the court filing also will seek a ruling requiring the election board to accept write-in votes cast under some variations of Brown’s name — a process known as cumulation. Examples of others that should be accepted would include George Brown, G.C. Brown and Mayor Brown, O’Donnell said.
The county election bureau had issued a public advisory before the primary alerting voters that they must both shade in the oval and write in the name for their selection to be counted.
The court’s ruling in Brown’s case could have an impact on other local races in which Republican and Democratic nominations are based on write-in votes.