Cuadra gets new attorneys; postpones trial

Tax increase in Plains Twp. budget

<b>First Posted:</b> 11/10/2008<br><br>SHEENA DELAZIO  and STEVE MOCARSKY 
 
 sdelazio@www.timesleader.com


After complaints and concerns with the Luzerne County voter rolls surfaced during or after Tuesday&amp;rsquo;s election, Bureau of Elections director Leonard Piazza said the voter rolls are never 100 percent accurate, but he does his best to correct problems.
Among voters who brought their concerns to The Times Leader were a man whose name was missing from the rolls even though he voted in the last presidential election, and a woman whose deceased father was still listed in the registry.
Matt Berryman, a 24-year-old Republican, thought voting at the Wyoming police station would be quick and easy &amp;ndash; he voted in the last presidential election with no problem. But an election worker said his name did not appear in the voter registry.
&amp;ldquo;They said I never voted before, but that&amp;rsquo;s false. &amp;hellip; They sent me on my way,&amp;rdquo; Berryman said.
The county election office told Berryman he registered in 1998 &amp;ndash; that means Berryman would have been 15 at the time.
&amp;ldquo;They said they purged me because I never voted and that they sent out a letter every five years, and one in 2004,&amp;rdquo; Berryman said. &amp;ldquo;I never got a letter. I registered to vote in 2002, that&amp;rsquo;s only two years difference if I would have received the letter.&amp;rdquo;
Berryman called the county election office, and spoke with an employee whom he said told him to vote provisionally and then hung up. Provisional ballots are cast when there is a concern regarding a voter&amp;rsquo;s eligibility.
Berryman said he was told to speak with Piazza at the courthouse, but he couldn&amp;rsquo;t find Piazza there. Eventually, Berryman, who intended to vote for Republican John McCain, met with a county solicitor, who told him to cast a provisional vote before a Luzerne County judge.
&amp;ldquo;They told me to make sure it goes through and counts by calling every day until I get an answer,&amp;rdquo; Berryman said.
Berryman said not voting wasn&amp;rsquo;t an option.
&amp;ldquo;The more angry I got, the more I just wanted to vote,&amp;rdquo; Berryman said. &amp;ldquo;(The county) almost made it impossible for me to vote. If I didn&amp;rsquo;t make the effort to drive to the courthouse, I wouldn&amp;rsquo;t have (voted). The computers not having (the correct) information because of someone&amp;rsquo;s mistake&amp;hellip;just goes to show you can&amp;rsquo;t really always fall back on the government.&amp;rdquo;
Piazza did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment on Berryman&amp;rsquo;s problem. He did, however, previously address concerns raised by Beth Cappellini of Mountain Top.
Cappellini said she voluntarily showed her driver&amp;rsquo;s license before voting at the Mountain Top Hose Co. But she said it bothered her that poll workers were not asking for voters&amp;rsquo; identification.
Piazza said state law requires poll workers only to check identification of people voting for the first time at a polling place; a notation appears under their names.
Cappellini also noticed that her daughter&amp;rsquo;s name was still in the registry book even though her daughter moved to Texas in July 2007; her father&amp;rsquo;s name was also in the registry even though he died in February 2006.
Piazza said his office is normally informed by the state Department of Health when a county resident dies so the name can be removed from the registry. But after searching The Times Leader&amp;rsquo;s obituaries, Piazza said the state Department of Health did not have a death certificate for Cappellini&amp;rsquo;s father and couldn&amp;rsquo;t notify his office because he died in New York.
Piazza said Cappellini&amp;rsquo;s daughter&amp;rsquo;s name was not removed from the registry because even though the daughter called and requested to have it removed, she never sent written notification.
Piazza said that in the case of a death, a phone call to him providing the date and location of the voter&amp;rsquo;s death would be sufficient for him to confirm the death and remove the name from the registry.
In the case of someone moving out of the county, written notification to his office &amp;ndash; by mail, fax or e-mail &amp;ndash; is required to have the person&amp;rsquo;s name purged.
Voters&amp;rsquo; names are automatically purged if they do not vote in two consecutive federal elections and do not respond to a letter from the Bureau of Elections asking if they wish to remain on the registry. That process takes at least five years.

    

Sheena Delazio and Steve Mocarsky are Times Leader staff writers. They may be reached at 829-7235 and 459-2005, respectively.

Election day not hassle free for all voters