Election results released
DUNBAR TWP. – An inspection of three Dunbar Township voting machines Friday showed that Democratic supervisor candidate Larry Mayros was the winner in the May primary election. Laurie Nicholson, director of the Fayette County Election Bureau, said the numbers showed that he was the winner and Democratic challenger John Tabaj agreed. The inspection showed that Mayros received 113 votes on machine 365, 81 votes on machine 416 and 120 votes on machine 432 for a total of 314 votes.
Tabaj received 96 votes on machine 365, 68 votes on machine 416 and 112 votes on machine 432 for a total of 276 votes.
Overall, Mayros defeated Tabaj by a margin of 550-534 votes. Mayros is a virtual certainty to win the November general election as no Republicans were on the primary ballot. He will succeed Gene Frazier, who is retiring.
Tabaj had challenged the results from primary night saying “when the votes were read, Mayros received 18 votes on machine 416 instead of 81 votes.”
Dunbar Township number 2 judge of elections Sandy Murray and DeVito Park Judge of Elections Sandy Crocetti and Nicholson all agreed that one of the number counters that night may have transposed 18 and 81 when they were reading off the votes.
They also agreed that the 81 was the real number and they said they posted that number on the precinct door before they left on primary night.
Nicholson said the numbers on the machine don’t lie and they are the numbers that election bureau officials go by because the numbers cannot be tampered with.
Nicholson told Tabaj that’s why election night results are classified as “unofficial” until she and her staff can verify them.
Both candidates and their attorneys showed up at the Fayette County Bridge Department building on Fire School Road Friday to inspect the machines in question.
Larry Blosser, voting machine technician, explained to the dozen or so people gathered that the machines were in 100 percent working order. Blosser opened the machines while Nicholson read off the vote numbers.
Tabaj and Mayros shook hands after a short discussion and Tabaj said mistakes like this shouldn’t happen.
“Only people who are authorized to read the numbers should have been in the room that night,” said Tabaj. “Others were in the room, which caused some confusion over Larry’s numbers.”
Tabaj said all he wants is for everyone involved in the election process to be professional. Crocetti and Murray agreed that everyone at their precinct was professional.
Mayros said he felt that an honest mistake had been made while reading the numbers and said “everyone makes mistakes from time to time. Anyone can read a number wrong and that’s all it was.”
Robin Leighty, newly elected auditor, and a number of other township residents had petitioned the court to have the machines opened and the votes recounted.
Nicholson said Friday’s recanvass could now be certified.