The Courtdale Municipal Building is seen in a file photo. A lawsuit brought against the Luzerne County Bureau of Elections by the borough of Courtdale to get the borough’s mayoral race on the November election ballot has been resolved and the race will be on the ballot in November, according to Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo.
Times Leader file photo
Contest will appear on November ballot
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A lawsuit brought against the Luzerne County Bureau of Elections by the borough of Courtdale to get the borough’s mayoral race on the November election ballot has been resolved and the race will be on the ballot in November, according to Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo.
The resolution comes just one day after the suit was filed in county court through Courtdale’s attorney Leonard Sanguedolce against Eryn Harvey in her capacity as director of the Luzerne County Bureau of Elections, saying that the mayoral race had been inadvertently excluded from the May primary ballot and would also be kept off November’s ballot.
In an email to members of both the Luzerne County Council and the Bureau of Elections, Crocamo confirmed that the lawsuit had been resolved and that Courtdale’s mayoral race would appear on the ballot.
“After consulting with Bureau staff, I reached out to Attorney Jack Dean to represent us in this matter,” Crocamo explained in her email. “We continued working on this matter early this morning and have resolved the issue with Courtdale Borough by agreeing to place the mayoral race on the ballot.”
Dean also confirmed the resolution in a memo that Crocamo forwarded to members of council and the Election Board.
“I am pleased to inform you that the issue regarding the position of the Mayor of Courtdale being placed on the November ballot which led to the Courtdale lawsuit against the County was resolved this morning,” Dean said.
“In that regard, consistent with the election laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the position will appear on the ballot as agreed upon by Courtdale.”
Dean’s memo explained that, due to an “unintentional oversight” in the spring, Courtdale did not include the position of mayor in its submissions to the county, which led to the position not being placed on the primary ballot.
Through cooperation with representatives from the borough, and after confirming the mayoral race’s position on the November ballot as legal and valid, it was agreed that the position of mayor would appear on ballots in November.
The swift resolution avoided the need for a potential special election regarding the Courtdale mayoral race, a move which, according to Dean, could have been costly for the taxpayers of the borough.
“In addition to franchising voters to vote for a Mayor, this result saves the taxpayers the cost and expense of a special election and the cost, expense and distraction of defending a lawsuit,” Dean said.