Election probe to be probed
By Glenn May
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, April 6, 2005

After voting-rights advocates blasted Allegheny County officials Tuesday for not fixing problems that arose in the November elections, County Council members voted to form a committee with the goal of ensuring a smooth primary May 17.

Elections officials had to keep a Downtown precinct open 90 minutes late on Election Day after some precincts ran out of provisional ballots. The provisional ballots, used for the first time in 2004, are designed to allow people not on voter-registration lists to cast their votes while their registration status is verified.

After more than 8,000 of the ballots were used Nov. 2, voting-rights advocates filed numerous complaints, saying some voters were denied provisional ballots or had to wait hours to get them.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, which advocates rights of low- and moderate-income people, and Election Protection, a voting-rights group, also reported that voters were disenfranchised by problems with registration procedures.

The county Elections Board named a two-person panel in November to review the provisional ballot problems, but has yet to issue any findings.

"When are we going to get the report and when are we going to be getting action?" asked Celeste Taylor, a member of ACORN and Election Protection.

Mark Wolosik, head of the county Elections Department, has said intense interest in the presidential race spurred many unregistered voters to turn out at the polls Nov. 2, spiking demand for provisional ballots.

County Council President Rich Fitzgerald last night said he will form a committee this week to investigate the voting problems and to find out why no findings have been issued by the Elections Board's panel.