On the primary vote controversy in Dingman

The investigation by the Pike County Commissioners is (June 7) in process. I have received findings that have been found to be the way that I reported them. I am still in the process of receiving further information regarding my statement. I am going to state “facts”, only, that were given to me in a letter dated June 1, 2009 from Thomas F. Farley, Esq., County Solicitor. I was the first voter of the day. My card was automatically registered a Democrat because the Democrats are in power. Therefore, the card needed to be placed into an encoder. It was not encoded to Republican. Bob Goldsack did contact the County Elections Office. He explained the problem with the encoder to an employee in the Election Office. That employee explained to Mr. Goldsack how to reprogram the encoder to change from Democrat to Republican. Mr. Goldsack then verbalized these instructions to a person working at the polls who, based on the information, instructed the employees how to reprogram the encoder. Because of the law, my candidates of choice cannot be changed to my registered party. The Election Office provided me with a Provisional Ballot and explained to me that such Provisional Ballot would count. A Provisional Ballot can only be used on Election Day. Thus, a Provisional Ballot is not the proper remedy nor can it be permitted. The Election must be certified. Certification can occur so long as the number of votes equal the election, the total election, or an amount less than the election. There is clearly no palpable error in the total number of votes cast such that election must be certified. There is one quote that I would like to bring to your attention from an article that was in a newspaper dated May 28, 2009. In a phone interview, it is quoted that Bob Goldsack said, “It’s a lie.” regarding my statement that he phoned the County Elections Office to get assistance with a voting problem on Election Day. You can see from the Commissioners’ findings that are stated above, that it was not a lie. There is (also) one quote that I would like to bring to your attention from an article that was in a newspaper dated June 4, 2009. During the Commissioners’ Meeting, Attorney Farley is quoted as saying to me, “Everyone after you caught the error before they voted. You were the only one that didn’t realize and immediately point out the error”. In fact, when my husband and I met with Commissioners Caridi, Forbes, and Wagner, Attorney Farley, and the Chief Clerk immediately following the Commissioners’ Meeting, the “yellow book” was brought to the table. The book confirmed that I was voter number one and one of the group of people who first noticed the discrepancy was voter number seven. In no way do I want to place any blame on the poll workers. Linda Boyle Milford