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First Posted: 5/29/2013 Luzerne County Election Board solicitor Mike Butera doesn&#8217;t expect the county to file any requests seeking a new Hazleton Area School Board election as suggested by some residents and county officials.
The results of that school board race are in question because Luzerne County&#8217;s election office failed to inform neighboring Carbon and Schuylkill counties of Steve Hahn&#8217;s withdrawal from the ballot, and he ended up receiving more than 500 votes in those jurisdictions.
Candidates can file court paperwork in Carbon and Schuylkill counties seeking a new election before the counties submit their official certified results to the state on June 10, but some say that burden should fall on Luzerne County, which made the error.
For starters, Butera said he does not know if the county would have standing to seek a special election.
The election code says any candidate aggrieved by the actions of the election board can file petitions with the court, and Butera said that wouldn&#8217;t apply to Luzerne County.
&#8220;Theoretically, Luzerne County is not aggrieved by anything,&#8221; Butera said.
Timing concerns
Timing also is an issue, Butera said. The county election board would have to discuss and decide to seek a new election and then obtain council approval to file litigation, which is required by home rule, he said.
Butera said he wants to be upfront that he does not believe these steps would be completed before the deadline.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s enough time for all the wheels to get that done,&#8221; Butera said.
Seven candidates competed for four Hazleton Area School Board nominations on each ticket &#8212; Thomas Chirico, Jared O&#8217;Donnell, Bob Mehalick, James Chapman, Frederick Mariano, Clarence John and Carmella Yenkevich.
Hahn received 279 Republican votes in the two other counties.
The unofficial Republican vote totals for the seven candidates: Chapman, 2,146; Mehalick, 2,125; John, 1,977; O&#8217;Donnell, 1,795; Yenkevich, 1,747; Mariano, 1,585; and Chirico, 1,515.
A combined 273 Democrats picked Hahn in the two counties.
The Democratic tallies for the seven contenders: Mehalick, 1,924; Chapman, 1,879; O&#8217;Donnell, 1,862; Yenkevich, 1,691; John, 1,611; Mariano, 1,333; and Chirico, 1,265.
If these results stand, Chapman, Mehalick and O&#8217;Donnell secured nominations to appear on both party ballots in November. John would be the fourth ballot contender on the Republican side, while Yenkevich would be the fourth Democratic candidate.
Election officials in Carbon and Schuylkill counties said they are proceeding with certification of their election results and haven&#8217;t received indications any candidates or Luzerne County will challenge the results.
Carbon County Elections Director Lisa Dart said she does not know how a special election with the same candidates would be structured. 
Two county municipalities &#8212; Banks Township and Beaver Meadows Borough &#8212; fall in the Hazleton Area School District, and roughly 700 voters cast ballots in the two.
&#8220;I believe the only people eligible to vote again would be the ones who voted last week,&#8221; Dart said.
Would these voters be required to appear at polling locations again, or could they vote by absentee ballots because of the unusual situation, she wonders.
2nd challenge possible
If the nominees changed as a result of a new election, the candidates who went from winners to losers may then have an opportunity to challenge the new results, Dart said.
Butera said the three candidates who secured both party nominations could end up losing a second time around.
&#8220;A lot of crazy things could happen with a new election,&#8221; he said.
The election board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday night &#8212; the location has not yet been finalized &#8212; to certify the election results and discuss other business. 
Butera said the board will comply with council&#8217;s resolution to investigate primary election problems and report findings to council on June 25.
Election Board member John Newman said the election office has been busy tallying hundreds of write-in votes in municipal races and verifying that the winning nominees are eligible to hold office.

No county action on vote expected