EVERY Vote Matters - OR - Celebrity Jeopardy, Leetsdale Edition

“All Politics is Local”

- Byron Price (1891-1981)

This past Tuesday evening after the polls had closed, Leslie and I made our way to the Leetsdale Municipal Building, where the entire borough casts their ballots.

There are several forms posted on the door after the polls close - among these are the master printout of all voting machine tallies, an accounting of absentee ballots, and a return sheet showing the number of voters, number of absentee ballots cast, and the signatures of our local election officials that all required documents were forwarded to the County Elections Division, which does all the final counting.

Others are writing about the big races, like the state Supreme Court race or the special election to replace our State Senator here. I tend to focus on the little contests, often pitting neighbor against neighbor, that slip under the radar of even the most well-intentioned local media.

Such an election is the race for Constable in Leetsdale. A constable performs numerous law enforcement-related functions, ranging from serving warrants, collecting fines, and other court services, polling place security, and prisoner transports, to name a few. The state Supreme Court has described constables as “independent contractors that orbit the judiciary”. They also possess many of the roles and responsibilities of a peace officer under Pennsylvania law.

For the primary election this past May, the incumbent Constable, Donald Turner, filed for re-election as a Democrat. His son Zachary Turner also filed for the Democratic nod, as did Ernest Logan, a retired police officer and the current Leetsdale Fire Chief. There were no Republican candidates on the primary ballot.

Donald Turner won the Democratic nomination. However, Ernie Logan received sufficient write-in votes from Republican voters to earn their party’s ballot position in Tuesday’s general election.

That vote was one of those close ones that make the small local elections really interesting to watch and try to analyze. As the graphic at the top of this post illustrates, Mr. Turner had a one-vote lead, 133 to 132, until the absentee ballots were added in, which then gave Mr. Logan an apparent 136 to 135 victory.

The results also listed one write-in vote in the race - a vote that, given the outcome, had the potential to seriously influence the election.

One thing about those voting machine printouts on the door is the availability of additional information that doesn’t make the final results. These include the actual names that received write-in votes, along with information on undervotes for each race. In this context, an undervote means that a voter cast a ballot, but did not vote for anyone for the race in question.

Leetsdale Council write-in candidate Benjimen Frederick garnered 79 write-in votes. Along with those write-ins were humorous entries for other offices, such as “MICKEY MOUSE” and “ANYONE BUT HIM”.

That one write-in voter for the Constable race (see photo above) cast their vote for TURD FERGUSON.

Mr. Ferguson is a fictional character from a “Celebrity Jeopardy” skit on Saturday Night Live that first aired in 1999. The name re-entered the popular consciousness this past September during the real Jeopardy game show, as CNN reported.

Along with the above tongue-in-cheek vote, 17 other voters didn’t even bother to cast a vote for Constable. Perhaps those voters don’t consider the position to be all that important in the total scheme of things - which considering the powers of the office isn’t really accurate. In response to controversial behavior and a lack of training and certification standards, the state Supreme Court established policies and procedures for Constables in 2013.

Take into consideration the total voter turnout in Leetsdale - 289 out of 831 registered, or just under 35 percent - and there’s a measure of sadness along with the suppressed laughter over someone’s idea of a joke that for at least one person, and perhaps the integrity of our democratic system, isn’t very funny at all.

And finally, combine these with the complexities of running for and serving in public office, the hectic pace of our everyday lives, the insidious evil of politics and cronyism and its effect on how the job should be done, and the general apathy and lack of understanding of exactly how government functions for the people.

Is it any wonder why there are fewer citizens willing to make a commitment to elected office, or public service in any capacity?

We’ve got several local examples of citizens in elected office, public safety, and other disciplines who perform their duties selflessly, competently, and with humility. If you know someone like this, thank them. Then work toward assuring that their example is duplicated.

A big part of that work includes exercising your right to vote - regularly and responsibly.

Have a good week ahead.

The opinions expressed in this weblog are solely my own as an individual and private citizen, and do not represent the opinion or policy of my family, my employer, or any other private or public entity.

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