Donegal constable upset by ballot error correction
An error on the Nov. 7 election ballot in the term length of the Donegal Township constable’s position was corrected Friday in Common Pleas Court, but the candidate elected to the position said he is not satisfied with the decision.
The ballot indicated a four-year term as constable was open in the election, but only a two-year term was actually open, Chantell McCurdy, county elections director, testified.
McCurdy said a full term for a constable in Pennsylvania is six year, but only two years — 2024 and 2025 — were left in the term for the Donegal Township position.
The election bureau received the correct information about the amount of time left in the term from the township office, but made an error by placing four years on the ballot, she said.
The ballot for the May 6 primary contained the same incorrect information, but no candidates officially entered the primary. McCurdy said Zach Scherer was a write-in candidate who received enough votes to appear on the November ballot.
County solicitor Julie Graham asked Judge Kelley Streib to correct the bureau’s “clerical” error.
Scherer, who received 239 votes with no opposition in the Nov. 7 election, argued that the bureau had 11 months to correct the error, and asked Streib to extend his term to four years because that’s the term voters elected him to serve.
Streib said she does not have the authority to extend the length of a term that is established by state law, and granted the county’s petition to correct the ballot to reflect a two-year term.
“We are a government of people. People make errors,” Streib said.
After the hearing, Scherer said he was not satisfied with the ruling and reiterated the arguments he made in court.
“I don’t feel it’s right,” Scherer said.
He said he will obtain his state certification to serve warrants so he can begin serving as constable, and plans to run for a full six-year term in 2025.
