Buchtan to remain on ballot for GOP committeeman post

He may not be permitted to serve if he wins because his primary residence is in Greene County.

At the request of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, the Washington County Board of Elections convened a special meeting Thursday morning to investigate and take action on GOP state committeeman candidate Al Buchtan’s residency for Washington County.

Neither Buchtan nor his counsel were present at the meeting, and there was no motion before the Washington County Election Board to remove Buchtan from the ballot from any of the county commissioners.

Buchtan

Buchtan is currently on the May 19 primary ballot as a candidate for the position of Republican state committeeman serving Washington County. In order to serve in that capacity, candidates must live in the county they seek to represent per the bylaws of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania and the Washington County Republican Party.

Earlier this month, a decision was made by a Commonwealth Court judge and was later affirmed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that Buchtan’s residency is in Greene County, not Washington County.

“There’s no question that Mr. Buchtan does not live in Washington County,” Washington County Commissioner Nick Sherman said at Thursday’s meeting. “There’s no question that Mr. Buchtan lives in Greene C o u n t y. There are legal precedents that we have to abide by, and it’s imperative that we recognize that the Supreme Court has weighed in the laws written that we do not have the legal authority to take action to remove him at this point.”

Washington County Solicitor and Hearing Officer Gary Sweat said the county board of elections “does not have the legal authority at this stage of the election to remove anyone from the ballot,” even though Buchtan is not a resident.

“It is my legal opinion that the issue of residency has been determined,” Sweat said. “Our elections director has taken the appropriate measures to advise Mr. Buchtan that he is not a resident of Washington County, and cannot vote in Washington County.”

A challenge affidavit was issued to Buchtan April 16, and as of Thursday, the elections office had not received a challenge or response from Buchtan, according to Sweat, who added that the issue of Buchtan’s residency is resolved.

Sweat said the board of elections at this late stage of the election calendar does not have the legal authority to remove Buchtan from the ballot.

“Only a court of competent jurisdiction has the authority to remove him at this stage, so I recommended the board to not take action on this matter to remove Buchtan,” Sweat said. “I do not think this board has the legal authority to remove him. If we were to be involved in a court challenge, that could significantly disrupt the election activity and process in Washington County, and that’s a big concern that I would have.”

Thursday’s meeting was called after Washington County officials received a letter from the Republican Party of Pennsylvania requesting the county’s board of elections remove Buchtan from the ballot.

The request follows a ruling by a Commonwealth Court judge and was later affirmed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which determined Buchtan’s residency is in Greene County, not Washington County.

The ruling did not affect Buchtan running against state Sen. Camera Bartolotta of Carroll Township for the GOP nomination for the 46th Senatorial District.

In a 4-3 ruling issued April 10, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a Commonwealth Court decision allowing Buchtan to stay on the ballot, but ordered that his nomination petition be amended to list his legal residence as Carmichaels in Greene County.

The case centered on whether Buchtan improperly listed a Canonsburg address on his nomination paperwork while maintaining his actual residence in Carmichaels, where his wife and stepdaughter live.

Buchtan testified during a March hearing that he rents a home in Canonsburg and spends much of his time there, but still owns and uses the Greene County home. Both properties are within the 46th Senate District.

The three Republican voters who challenged Buchtan’s candidacy argued that listing a Washington County address gave him a political advantage because Washington County has far more Republican voters than Greene County.

Commonwealth Court Judge Stacy Wallace ruled earlier this month that Buchtan’s true residence remains in Greene County, but found he did not intentionally try to mislead voters. Wallace ordered him to amend his paperwork rather than be removed from the ballot, and the Supreme Court agreed.

Sweat cited several filings that were past deadlines with the election coming up, and said the Commonwealth Court didn’t order Buchtan’s removal, so that was a factor in his legal advice to the elections board Thursday.

Requests for more investigation

On Thursday, Thomas King represented the Pennsylvania Republican Party, and was there also on behalf of state party Chairman Greg Rothman, who asked King to go to the hearing because it has come to the state’s attention about Buchtan’s candidacy for the state senate.

“Our bylaws clearly state that a member of the Republican State Committee from Washington County must be a resident and voter in Washington County,” King said. “In the Republican State Committee, the membership is divided by counties, so you must be a resident of a particular county in order to serve there. You cannot be the Republican State Committee man from Washington County if your residence is officially in Greene County, so it’s just not possible.”

According to King, the state asked that Buchtan not be removed from the ballot, but rather have further investigation.

“We’re aware of the provisions of the election code in Pennsylvania, and the period that electors have to challenge someone’s position on the ballot, and I think that creates a problem with respect to removing someone at this point in time,” King said. “However, you are entitled to do an investigation and to reveal whatever findings you chose.”

Although Buchtan is not being removed from the ballot by Washington County, he will not be seated on a Republican State Committee under these circumstances, according to King.

Since the board did not take action to remove Buchtan from the ballot, and in the event that Buchtan is elected as a Republican state committeeman for Washington County, King said he will not be seated on the committee.

According to King, the credentials committee will deal with the issue of his residency, and if it is found that Buchtan is not a resident of Washington County, which he isn’t, he will not be seated.

“I’m happy that he’s a Republican, I’m glad somebody wanted to run for this position, I encourage people to do that, but you’ve got to live in the county that you’re running in in order to serve,” King added. “The shame of all that is that Washington County will be without one of its representatives on our committee at a time when we’re involved in the state races, the governors race, the legislative races and so on. It’s a shame that Washington county will not have a representative until the process is filled out to complete a replacement for him.”

Washington County Prothonotary Laura Hough, a member of the Republican State Committee, objected to Buchtan being on the ballot because there are two court decisions that have said Buchtan is not a resident of the county and cannot be listed.

Washington County Republican State Committee member Dave Ball said he has also been an objector of Buchtan on the ballot, stating he is not a registered voter in the county. Ball gave a letter to commissioners to also request an investigation into Buchtan, which cited apparent violations of the Voter Registration Act and the Election Code.

“As is required by the election code, the election commission has the obligation to investigate (these) matters,” Ball said. “If there is suspicion and suspicious circumstances determined, then it can be turned over to the district attorney for potential criminal investigation.”

According to Sherman, the elections board does not have the authority to make any kind of ruling on whether or not a law was broken, but the letter was turned over to the district attorney’s office.

Buchtan told the Mon Valley Independent on Thursday he believes the special meeting was illegal, which is why he didn’t attend.

He added that his time is better spent talking to the constituents of the 46th district and claimed the election board’s ruling was them admitting “to their wrongdoing.”

“This is the third time they tried to get me off the ballot,” Buchtan said. “This time, it was a public meeting that was an illegal attempt. The political swamp illegally removed me from the Washington County voter rolls despite my name still being on the ballot in Washington County for the Republican state committee.”

In a post on Facebook, Buchtan wrote that he is registered to vote, he will be on the ballot and no one can stop his campaign.

He also alleged that his opponents will stop at nothing to silence anyone who challenges their “corrupt practices” and that there was an attempt to throw him off the ballot illegally.

“This is just another dirty trick by the (Camera) Bartolotta-( Bill) DeWeese political hit squad to deny Republican voters a choice,” he told the

MVI. “They’re doing everything to deny Republican voters choices in the election.”

FROMA1