IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF DELAWARE COUNTY

PENNSYLVANIA
CIVIL ACTION AT LAW

In re Petitions to Open Ballot Boxes and Docket Nos 23 009785, 23 009797,

Recanvass Voting Machines of 23 009795, 23 009793, 23 009794,
Joy Schwartz, Gary Stenstrom 23 009796 23 009787, 23 009774
Paul Rumley et al 23 009779 23 009782, 23 009777,
23 009783, 23 009781

OPINION

CapuZZI S J February 5 2024

NATURE AND HISTORY OF THE CASE

These appeals arise from the Tr1a1 Court’s December 13, 2023 Orders

sustainmg Respondent/Appellee’s Prehminary Object1ons and dlsmissing the

Pet1t10ns to Open Ballot Boxes and Recanvass Vot1ng Machines 1n the above

referenced matters The nature and salient history of these appeals follow On

November 15, 2023, pro se Pet1t10ners/Appe11ants, J0y Schwartz, Gregory

Stenstrom, Leah Hoopes, Paul Rumley, Kathryn Buckley, Loranne Mazzulo, Pat

Bleasdale, Dean Dre1be1bls, B111 Demon, Tina Hamllton, Joey Mazza, and John

C Vlzzarrl (hereinafter“GeneralPet1tioners”) filed a ser1es of Pet1t10ns to Open

Ballot Boxes and Recanvass Voting Machmes in varlous election distrlcts

throughout Delaware County, Pennsylvania1 In each matter, General Pet1t10ners

1 General Petitioners filed a similar Petition under docket 2023 009778 which referenced the
votmg district as “Precinct/Distnct of Union Power(Whari) ” As no electors vote at this location,
a separate Op1nion has Issued in that matter under appellate docket 1499 CD 2023
were joined by three or more additional Petitioners (heremafter “Elector

Petitioners”), each of Whom is purportedly a quahfied elector Who votes at the

spec1fic votlng distrlct referenced 1n that particular Petition The below table

identlfies each Court of Common Pleas docket number, the respective Elector

Petitloners and the correspondlng election distrlcts in Delaware County,

Pennsylvania

2023 009785 Thaddeus P Kavanaugh Haverford 8th Ward]1St Precmct

Slobhan Donohue
Dan Donohue
Marlin Fine
2023 009797 Russ Mazzulo Edgmont 1
V1ctoria Mazzulo
Austm Mazzulo
2023 009795 Deborah Dat1 Upper Providence 3
Gerald Dati
Annahe Dati
2023 009793 Ronald W Petersen Middletown 1 1
Robert Clements
Marc Milhson
2023 009794 Mark Dumort Middletown 3 2
Ryan Dumort
Brlan Fasy
Cathleen Fas
2023 009796 Mlchelle Salera M1dd1etown 3 3
Marc Salera

-——
Ellen Funari
Jose h Funar1
2023 009787 Llsa George Upper Darby 1 4

Mark Kenned

John J Needham

2
- Elector Petitioners Election District

2023 009779 Jacqueline Ham11ton Upper Darby 3 1

W1111am W Hamilton, Sr
Willlam W Hamilton, Jr
2023 009782 Euphrosyne F Schwartz Upper Darby 3 3
Lawrence B Schwartz
Melod J Schwartz
2023 009777 Phyletta Knapp Cecchme Upper Darby 4 9
Chris Cecchme
Carohne Cecchlne
2023 009783 Joanne R Nammavong Upper Darby 4 11
Rebecca C Duggan
Judith M Du an
2023 009781 Joseph C V1zzari Upper Darby 5 8
John C Vizzar1
Knstin Caarra

These Pet1tions all arlse from the 2023 Mun101pa1 Election Wthh occurred

on November 7, 2023 The Pet1t10ns are substantlally sim11ar and the proposed

Order attached to each Pet1t10n requests a recount 0f the enumerated precincts

along With other W1de ranging re11ef to purportedly audit the vote 1n each precmct

Petitioners’ proposed Order, attached to each Pet1tion, requests the following

relief

a “ALL [sic] ballots used in the E1ect10n 1n the precmcts at lssue 1n the
above captioned actions for photograph by P1a1nt1ffs ”

b “ALL [s10] unredacted documents used in the adj1id1cat10n of ballots

cast by electors from the precmcts at issue 1n the above captloned
action(s) for photograph by Plaintiffs ”

3
 0 “ALL [sic] unredacted outer envelopes from the precinct(s) by maul
or absentee at issue 1n the above capt1oned act10n(s) for photograph by
Pla1nt1ffs ”

d “ALL [sic] unredacted Poll Books (and/or Blue Books) from the
precincts at 1ssue 1n the above captioned act10n(s) for photograph by
Plaintlffs ”

6 “ALL [310] unredacted Absentee and Mail in Ballot Envelopes for

photograph by Plaintiffs

f “A d1g1tal copy of ALL [310] Absentee and Mall 1n Ballot envelope

images w1th unredacted s1gnatures taken by the BlueCrest mall sorter
With metadata intact ”

g A d1gital copy of the Cast Vote Record (CVR) file for the central
tabulator used 1n the November 2023 municipal elections at 1ssue in the
above capt1oned act1ons ”

Respondent/Appellee, the Delaware County Board of Electlons (“Board”)

filed Prehmmary Obj ections on November 22, 2023 By Orders dated November

30, 2023 and entered in each respective matter,2 hearings were scheduled for

December 4, 2023 W1th a specific tune reserved for each municipality, as

referenced below

Hearin Date and Time Election District

2023 009785 December 4 2023 at 9 00 a m Haverford 8th Ward/ 1 t
Precmct

2023 009797 December 4 2023 at 9 30 a m Edgmont l

2 NotICe was provided to all partles and counsel V1a email addresses included in their origmal
filings
4
 Hearin Date and Time Election District

2023 009795 December 4 2023 at 10 00 a m Upper Prov1dence 3

2023 009793 December 4 2023 at 10 30 a m M1dd1etown 1 1

2023 009794 December 4 2023 at 10 30 a m M1dd1etown 3 2
2023 009796 December 4 2023 at 10 30 am Middletown 3 3

2023 009787 December 4 2023 at 11 00 am Uo oer Darb 1 4

2023 009774 December4 2023 at 11 00 am U ner Darb 1 6
2023 009779 December 4 2023 at 11 00 am U er Darb 3 1
2023 009782 December 4 2023 at 11 00 am U0 oer Darb 3 3
2023 009777 December 4 2023 at 11 00 a m U er Darb 4 9
2023 009783 December 4 2023 at 11 00 am U oer Darb 4 11
2023 009781 December 4 2023 at 11 00 am U. er Darb 5 8

A hearmg under docket 2023 009778 was scheduled for December 4 2023 at

1 30 p m Thls matter involved the novel reference to “Prec1nct/Distrlct of Union

P0wer(Wharf) ” At the request of counsel for the Board, the hearmg 1n 2023 009778

only was postponed to December 6, 2023 at 10 00 a m

Ne1ther the General Petltloners nor the Elector Petltioners appeared for the

scheduled hearings on December 4, 2023 3 Apparently, the pro se Pet1tioners were

under the mlstaken notlon that all hearmgs were postponed to December 6, 2023

desp1te the Court’s clear d1rect1ve that only 2023 009778 was postponed to that date

3 Counsel for the Board appeared on December 4, 2023 at the allotted time for each case and
requested that the Prelimlnary Obj ections be sustained 111 each respective case A11part1es appeared
on December 6 2023 for the hearing in 2023 009778
5
In any event, the General Petltioners and the Elector Petitloners subsequently filed

responses4 to the Board’s Prehminary Obj ectlons on December 6, 2023 prior to the

scheduled hear1ng 1n 2023 009778 The Trial Court cons1dered these responses

before lssulng the December 13, 2023 Orders 1n the matters llsted above

By Orders dated December 13, 2023, this Court sustained the Board’s

Prehmmary Obj ections and dism1ssed the respect1ve Petitions w1th prejudice having

determ1ned that Pet1t10ners faded to file the pet1t10ns to open ballot boxes as to each

elect1on dlstrict m which ballots were cast for the offices 1n questlon or plead and

offer przmafacze evidence that a partlcular act of fiaud or error occurred

DISCUSSION

The Election Code perm1ts quahfied electors two ways to seek a recount

Quahfied electors must e1ther (1) file their pet1t10ns as to each election district m

which ballots were cast for the offices in questlon or (2) plead and offerprzma

facze eV1dence that a part1cular act of fiaud or error occurred See In re Recount

ofBerkS County General Electzon ofNovember 8 2022 296 A 3d 64 68 (Pa

melth 2023) In the instant matter, the petit1ons at 1ssue do not target any

partlcular race, mstead referrmg only to the “Municipal Electlon for Delaware

4 The responsive pleading was titled “Petitioners’ Response to Plaintiffs’ [sic] Prelimlnary
Object1ons Re, [sic] Pet1tion to Open Ballot Box, and Recanvass Votlng Machjnes ”
6
County ” Petit1oners seek a recount of the entire mun1cipal election for Delaware

County, Pennsylvama Which mcluded statew1de judicial races and a countywide

race for County Counc11 The instant petit1ons address only thirteen (13) election

d1str1cts out of the four hundred twenty eight (428) 1n Delaware County,

Pennsylvania Accordmgly, because Petitioners apparently seek a recount of

statew1de, or at m1n1mum, countywide elect1ons W1thout complymg With the

Electlon Code’s requlrement that they file 1n every election district 1n Which the

challenged elect1ons took place, the petit1ons were dismlssed See In re Recount

ofBerks County General Electzon, 296 A 3d at 68

Moreover, Pet1t1oners seek Wide ranging material to complement the1r

recount efforts Petitioners sought the followmg for each precinct 1n Wh1ch they

filed all “ballots used in the elect1on 1n precmcts at 1ssue for photograph”, all

“unredacted documents used in the adjud1cat1on of ballots”, all “unredacted outer

envelopes fiom the precmct(s) by mail or absentee at issue 1n the above

capt10ned action(s) for photograph”, all “unredacted Poll Books”, all “unredacted

absentee and mall 1n ballot envelopes for photograph”, a “dig1tal copy of all

absentee and mad in ballot envelope images W1th unredacted s1gnatures”, and a

“digltal copy of the Cast Vote Record (CVR) file for the central tabulator used 1n

the November 2023 mumc1pal elections ” Because Pet1t1oners are not entitled to

a recount, they are not ent1tled to have 1t occur m a certam way Pet1tioners faded

7
to comply with the Election Code’ 3 unamblguous requirement that a pet1tion for

recount be filed 1n all elect10n dlstricts in Wthh ballots were cast for the office 1n

questlon See 25 P S § 3263(a)(1)

In stark contrast to Appellants’ amorphous filings, targeted recount

petit1ons were appropriately filed 1n Delaware County, Pennsylvama following

the 2023 Mumc1palElect10n Those pet1t10ns sought recounts of a Township

Supervisor’s race 1n Edgmont Townships, the Borough Council elect10n 1n

Glenolden Borough6 and the Township Superv1sor contest in Bethel Township 7

As those petitlons spe01fically addressed wh1ch elect10n was be1ng contested and

were filed 1n each elect10n dlstrict 1n wh1ch ballots were cast for the offices 1n

quest1on, the Board conducted recounts 1n those elect10n d1stricts

Appellants failed to plead with any spe61fi01ty Wthh elect10ns they

contested and as such their general countyw1de requests for recounts needed to

be filed 1n each elect10n dlstrict in Delaware County rather than the thirteen (13)

at lssue Moreover, Appellants failed to plead and/or present przmafacze

ev1dence of any particular acts of fraud or error in the 2023 Mun101pal Election

As such, the mstant appeals should be dlsmissed

5 Docket No 2023 009706

6 Dockets Nos 23 009775 23 009780 23 009784 23 009786 23 009788 & 23 009789
7Dockets Nos 23 009601 23 009603 23 009604 23 009605 23 009607 & 23 009609
8
 CONCLUSION

For the foregomg reasons, this Court did not err by sustaming

Respondent/Appellee’s Prelimmary Obj ectlons and dismlssing the Pet1tions to

Open Ballot Boxes and Recanvass Votmg Machines 1n the above referenced

matters Therefore, the mstant appeals should be dismlssed

BY THE COURT

JOfig :éPlfifi SR SJ

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