The following is the printed version handed to the commissioners

Also consider for the business-meeting agenda these items:

Hiring an inspector of registration in time for a review of the Connellsville School Board Special Election set for May 23. Since a March 31 Washington, D.C. Conference, at least two commissioners have had a preliminary report from the Voting Integrity Project.

Commissioner Nehls should have a copy by now. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that the preliminary report's conclusions call into question at least, by my count, approximately 6,601 registrants on Fayette's voter registration list who fall into the category of non-residents of Fayette County.

The on-line VIP REPORT shows these statistics:

FAYETTE COUNTY National Change of Address(NCOA)RECAP
Moved out of Fayette County 3,461 4.2%
Registration address not in F.C. 2,784 3.4%
Moved, left no forward 363 .4%
Moved out of USA 3 --

Those registrants should be matched to the Fayette Voter Registration List and immediately flagged. For voters in the Connellsville special election, those polling places should have a listing of these non-residents. Otherwise, how can this particular special election be assured to be fair and untainted?

You have a duty, not just an option, to hire an inspector of registration. Such a position could only aid you to secure fair and honest elections. In the election code I've cited, the words:

"Shall have as other staff... inspectors of registration" doesn't leave any room for interpretation.

• Under PA VOTER REGISTRATION ACT (Section 304 (b)(3) pertaining specifically to second through eighth class counties) other staff of the Registration Commission SHALL be as follows:
  (Subsection ii) Inspectors of registration who have authority to investigate all matters regarding voter registration and to make recommendations to the commission.

Next, consider adopting a resolution that would address PA HOUSE BILL 1686 now being considered in the General Assembly. The bill amends the PA VOTER REGISTRATION ACT.

I'm not suggesting that you endorse or not endorse all or part of the bill.

I want to point out Section 702 (b) which pertains to computer lists for the district registers. This allows for the signature on the voter registration card to be copied and unbelievably used as the digitized signature on the computer list, or computer-generated cards. In my opinion, this is a signed, sealed, and delivered open invitation to fraud without verifying that the initial voter registration is valid.

Refer to the Feb. 25, 2000 article:

(AP)Twenty counties breaking voter registration laws by not updating rolls.

• June 30, 1995 (P.L. 170, No. 25), entitled "An Act providing for voter registration, for registration commissions, for remedies and for absentee ballots; imposing penalties; making appropriations; and making repeals," providing for change of addresses, for approval of applications, for district registers, for fees, for information lists, for reports, for physical disabilities, for removal of voters, for affirmations and for incorrect records.
  
  
• Section 702 (b) District Register Computer Lists
  The computer list or computer-generated cards must be in a form prescribed by the secretary and must contain necessary information that would otherwise be available on the registration cards, including a legible digitized signature of the registratnt copied from the signature on the registration cards{.The district election officals shall have computer printouts at the polling places containing the necessary information needed to verify the identity of the elector. The digitized signature list shall be open to public inspection, subject to reasonable safeguards, rules and regulations.}Or, if the signature of the registrant is unable to be digitized, then it may be copied from the signature of the registrant made at the polling place when completing the signature card, provided that the card is otherwise complete.

LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR
HERALD-STANDARD
March 23, 2000
Registration inspector needed

legislation
House Bill No. 1686.




ISSUE: FAYETTE VOTER REGISTRATION LIST NON-RESIDENTS

Purge the registration rolls of non-residents now, commissioners.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR
DAILY COURIER
The April 13, 2000 article. "Numbers change, ballot doesn’t" reports that the Fayette Election Bureau has finished certifying the special primary election results for Connellsville Area school directors and that the Primary results, which are still unofficial, were signed by the county election board, comprised of the three county commissioners, and will sit until Monday, April 17. If no one objects, the results will be signed again on April 17, and made official."

If no one objects? The notice should propel Connellsville voters, who will vote in the upcoming general election scheduled for May 23, to emphatically object!

These particular voters should march enmass to the office of the Fayette County commissioners to demand that the commissioners act now, according to the law one month before an election, to purge the Connellsville voter registration list of so-called "deadwood."

The commissioners, acting as the Fayette County Registration Commission, should immediately meet to determine the authenticity of all registered voters in the affected Connellsville districts who fall into the category of "non-residents of Fayette County. "

Since a March 31 Washington, D.C. conference, at least two commissioners have had a preliminary report from the Voting Integrity Project. Commissioner Ron Nehls should have a copy as well by now, as should Laurie Nicholson, Election Bureau director.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that the preliminary report's conclusions call into question at least, by my count, approximately 6,601 registrants on Fayette's voter registration list of some 82,000, who according to the report fall into the category of non-residents of Fayette County.

The VIP REPORT is on the website of the Voting Integrity Project with a release date of April 1, 2000.



The Fayette Registration Commission should act to correct the voter registration list now that this report has been released. The board doesn't need to prove irregularities or discrepancies based on the part of the report showing these statistics:

Moved out of Fayette County 3,461 4.2%
Registration address not in F.C. 2,784 3.4%
Moved, left no forward 363 .4%
Moved out of USA 3 --

Those registrants should be matched locally to the actual Fayette County Voter Registration List and should immediately be flagged, if not actually removed from the list by the Registration Commission, period.

An investigation by the board could then begin to determine whether any registrant with an address outside of Fayette County voted on April 4, 2000.

It simply would not be that difficult of a task.

For voters of the Connellsville area and the special election May 23, all polling places should have a listing of the registrants so flagged or removed from the registration roll.

Only in this way, can this particular special election be assured to be fair.

Any registrants removed from the voter registration list who want to vote in the November General Election would have plenty of time to re-register according to the law.

Remember, any commissioner alone can act as an inspector of registration, with the full powers that go with that position. However, as has been pointed out numerous times, the commission is obligated under the law to hire an inspector of registration.

Under Section 304 (b)(3)pertaining specifically to second through eighth class counties, other staff of the Registration Commission SHALL be as follows: (Subsection ii) Inspectors of registration who have authority to investigate all matters regarding voter registration and to make recommendations to the commission.

Such a position could only aid the Registration Commission in their own duty to secure fair and honest elections. WiredVirtual voting military

This page was updated April 19, 2003 and March 11, 2004 and March 10, 2006