.top_disclaimer { As he was taken into custody the next morning he made spontaneous statements regarding Moyer being killed. !1A"Qaq#2BR$3br%&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz Theresa Johnson. margin-bottom: 1px; margin-bottom: 1px; I do believe there is both a factual and the legal basis for this order, Kauffman said. Ballotpedia does not currently cover this office or maintain this page. margin-bottom: 0; |al @9# X ( H%D =5"|2+" HI "@&@jBbzVe$ )S }@OJ u You are here: Berks County > County Departments > Court of Common Pleas > Adult Probation Office > Court Documents. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the recount effort at Berks was part of a nationwide attempt by supporters of failed gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano to flood Pennsylvania courts with petitions aimed at forcing hand recounts. County election officials fought the petitions, saying they were without merit and should be dismissed. Before issuing their decision, the commissioners conducted a public hearing during the elections board meeting. The petitions were filed under a little-known provision of state election law that allows a precincts results to be recounted if three voters from the precinct file a petition in county court saying they believe fraud or error occurred there and those voters pay a combined $50. The Berks County Board of Elections submitted a response to petitions that were filed last Monday in county court. width: 57%; In the past he has won the National Collegiate Championship. The Hon. Ms. Smith attended Please, 100 largest cities in America by population, Pennsylvania judicial elections, 2013 - Courts of Common Pleas, https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Eleni_Dimitriou_Geishauser&oldid=7288560, Pages using DynamicPageList parser function, Pennsylvania common pleas court judges, Berks County, Conflicts in school board elections, 2021-2022, Special Congressional elections (2023-2024), 2022 Congressional Competitiveness Report, State Executive Competitiveness Report, 2022, State Legislative Competitiveness Report, 2022, Partisanship in 2022 United States local elections. } On November 26, 2018, the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records issued one of its periodic email topic alerts reporting on and linking to these two Court decisions. y !1 AQa"2Bq#3R$br4% He said that since these machines have been in use for several years they would have expected to hear about this issue before this election. Berks was forced to defer confirmation of the election results pending the outcome of the petitions. Apply today! Decision Clarifies Requirements for Affidavit of RTK Officers, Commonwealth Court Imposes Fines for Bad Faith Response to PA RTKL Request, Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Open Records Officer's Delegation of Search For Responsive Records Deemed Bad Faith; Attorneys' Fees Awarded, ordered the City of Reading to pay $12,071.75 in legal fees, ordered Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to pay $118,458.37 in legal fees, PENNSYLVANIA FREEDOM OF INFORMATION COALITION, PENNSYLVANIA'S UNIFIED JUDICIAL SYSTEM PUBLIC ACCESS TO COURT RECORDS, WHERE TO OBTAIN COMMONLY REQUESTED RECORDS, Recent OOR Determination Clarifies Appeal Deadline. vertical-align: top; The petitions were filed last month by the committee on behalf of 94 individual voters. This is a development website: This website is the development website for the County of Berks. Berks County election officials believe petitions that have been filed demanding recounts in 30 precincts are without merit and should be dismissed, paperwork filed Wednesday shows. The Berks County Board of Elections submitted a response to petitions that were filed last Monday in county court. Yatron earned a bachelor's degree in political science and history from . The door was locked and no one answered. width: 250px; .widget-row.Green { Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. } xref } The county appreciates the time and attention Judge Lillis gave to this matter, it reads. A state Commonwealth Court judge has dismissed an appeal by the Berks County Republican Committee seeking a manual recount of votes cast in a handful of precincts during the 2022 general. width: 100%; Two unverified petitions were presented to Judge Lillis, and thats important because under the rules, a petition must be verified if they contain facts that are not of record. He also compiled the rule book for the World Flying . The response from the county also states that many of the other requests in the petitions should be denied because they are contrary to the purpose and scope of a recount under the provision they cite. More and more of what is ultimately deciding elections is not the vote or necessarily the law, but rather the results of litigation. display: inline-block; background-color: #f9f9f9; }, Eleni Dimitriou Geishauser is a judge for the Berks County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. He currently covers court news, veterans' stories and all types of general news. An order from Judge James Lillis was handed down Tuesday, Dec. 6, to the parties involved. display: inline-block; Kauffman said petitions filed under this provision of the law should not be fishing expeditions, saying what the committee is asking for is way beyond the scope of what the law allows. You have permission to edit this article. Both sides had a chance last week to make their cases in county court. } If you would like to help our coverage scope grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia. 0000000584 00000 n 199 MM . .widget-row { font-size: .9em; This was done. 612 0 0 792 0 0 cm [3], Geishauser currently works for her own firm, Dimitriou Geishauser, P.C.[3]. An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Someone has to program each machine, which means there could have been an error made then.. 1. My life-experiences will allow me to handle this incredible responsibility, with unwavering ethics and strict respect for the laws of our land. Cody Kauffman, First Assistant County Solicitor, argued that the petitions should be dismissed because they contain no evidence of a specific act of fraud or error. That would be something that they would be entitled to. ALERT! clear: both; .widget-row.Independent, .widget-row.Nonpartisan, .widget-row.Constitution { He represents Pennsylvania municipalities, municipal authorities and schools in responding to Right to Know Law requests and. .widget-row.heading { JFIF C 100% remote. word-wrap: break-word; Chief among them is that no fraud or error was committed in the computation of the votes cast or in the marking of the ballots. display: inline-block; font-size: 1.2em; COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF BERKS COUNTY DOCKET Docket Number: CP-06-CR-0002005-2021 Court Case CRIMINAL DOCKET Page 1 of 7 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. James C. Dixon CASE INFORMATION Judge Assigned: Lillis, James M. Date Filed: 06/16/2021 Initiation Date: 12/22/2020 OTN: U 943950-0 LOTN: Originating Docket No: MJ-23301-CR-0000187-2020 . display: inline-block; Nov. 30Berks County election officials believe petitions that have been filed demanding recounts in 30 precincts are without merit and should be dismissed, paperwork filed Wednesday shows. He said the most accurate way to conduct a recount is by using machines specifically designed to accurately count votes, explaining that a hand recount introduces a likelihood of human error into the counting process. We are glad to see that the honorable court upheld the rule of law and did not abide by conspiracy theories, he said. Winter said the committee believes an inspection of the voting machines is the only way to get to the bottom of what happened on Election Day.
float:right; OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA NO. } } Berks elections board denies McCormicks challenge to counting provisional ballots, How the 'Daisy Jones' cast went from beginners to bandmates, Abbott Elementary: Chris Perfetti on Jacobs Mural Meltdown & Big SAG Awards Win, Jonathan Majors flexes his acting muscle, turns heavyweight, Jimmy Kimmel: Im fighting to lose weight before Oscars because I looked like a homemade sausage!, Olivia Wilde ready to date again after Harry Styles split but only with amazing guy, Stormcenter - School / Business Application. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. We had our hearing on Dec 1 in the Court of Common Pleas. David L. Plum. Apr. margin-top: 1px; The Oz and McCormick campaigns have been fighting over a number of issues, including the provisional ballots. He was elected on November 3, 2015. A hearing about the petitions will be held before Berks County Judge James Lillis . 3. A Berks County judge has dismissed petitions filed by the Berks County Republican Committee seeking a recount of ballots cast during the general election at 30 precincts across the county.} When confronted by police, Talarico removed his clothes and fled into the woods. font-weight: bold; ROLL CALL: Upon roll call, Supervisors Stuck, Royer, Wertz and Kocher were present. .infobox p {
Madelyn S. Fudeman. s+ZBiS? Lillis received his undergraduate degree from the United States Air Force Academy and his J.D. float: right; The Hon. Commissioner Kevin Barnhardt cast a dissenting vote saying he believes the intent of a voter not dating the ballot is simply an error in judgement. Mostly cloudy with a few showers and some areas of fog late.. Mostly cloudy with a few showers and some areas of fog late. } Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Former West Reading police officer federally indicted in fraudulent body armor scheme for a second time, Berks judge dismisses election recount petitions [Update], Reading Auditor Maria Rodriguez announces she will run for reelection, Joanna McClinton voted Pa. House speaker after Mark Rozzi steps aside; first Black woman to win post, Mark Rozzi says he will step down as Pa. 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Jnp`! The alert entitled Agencies Ordered to Pay Legal Fees can be found here, The Office of Open Records hosts a webpage where it has collected Court decisions on Enforcing a Final Determinations, Francis J. Catania is a partner in the Media, PA, law firm of Catania & Parker, LLP, and has been practicing law for over 30 years. font-weight: bold; startxref [1] Lash was first elected to the court in 1999 and retained in 2009. (610) 678-5393 Fax. OOR: Information About Officers Time-Off Request Protected From Disclosure Under The RTKL By The Constitutional Right of Privacy. It should not be necessary for the petitioners to have to provide evidence, he said. A manual recount of all paper ballots generated by the voting machines, as well as all mailed, absentee and provisional ballots. The filing deadline for candidates was March 11, 2015.Dimitriou Geishauser, Lillis and Barrett were unopposed in the general election. width: 250px; Tom Wolf's office and Berks County President Judge Thomas G. Parisi. } font-weight: bold; Madelyn S. Fudeman and Theresa Johnson were also on the ballot, competing for two open seats. } The county now plans to confirm the results at a meeting of the election board on Thursday. (610) 678-4571 Website: springtwpberks.org RE-ORGANIZATION MEETING MINUTES . A statement from the district welcomed the decision. This judge is outside of that coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates. oI n @ @ @ @ @ @ ~a@X>jwT)$)$\n E39-)o2y P8$)7 #~j^\4O@? .widget-img { It is the mission of the Berks County Magisterial District Judge System to seek justice, to foster public trust and confidence in an independent judiciary, and to provide high quality courteous service to all users of the magisterial district courts by processing cases and resolving disputes in a manner that reflects the system's commitment to . Click here to contact our editorial staff, and click here to report an error. However, he said, he does not know if his client has an interest in appealing. Also read: The judge dismisses the Nov. 8 recount requests after most of the requesters failed to show up. Jeff Bukowski, an attorney representing the Oz campaign, said the provisional ballots were cast by voters through no fault of their own. Ballotpedia features 395,441 encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers. University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 1982, .infobox { A manual recount of all paper ballots generated by the voting machines, as well as all mail, postal, and provisional ballots. "Judge Lillis' order lacked both a factual basis. A manual recount of all paper ballots generated by the voting machines, as well as all mailed, absentee and provisional ballots. font-size: .9em; According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the recount effort in Berks was part of a statewide attempt by supporters of failed gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano to flood Pennsylvania courts with petitions seeking to force hand recounts. The petitions sought recounts for only 30 of the countys 202 precincts. Feb. 14With a two-decade law career in both private and public practice, Berks County Assistant District Attorney Justin Bodor is now seeking election as a county judge. background-color: green; Dec. 6 A Berks County judge has dismissed petitions by the Berks County Republican Committee seeking a recount of ballots cast during general elections in 30 counties in the county. A court order extended the polls in Berks by one hour on election night in response to an electronic poll book problem at some polling places. Judge Barrett's Court; Judge Lillis's Court; The county to make all voting equipment, including the voting machines, available for inspection and testing by a duly authorized representative. The committee made four requests in the petitions: 1. Attorney Eric Winter, who argued on behalf of the Berks County Republican Committee, disagreed with Kauffmans assessment, saying the language in the law that allows for recount petitions doesnt include that language. This becomes clear when we see their campaign challenging a duly entered court order to not count votes, and then in the same meeting, call for the counting of votes of undated or unsigned ballots. 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Lillis ordered the City of Reading to pay $12,071.75 in legal feesto a requester and in October 2018, Commonwealth Court Judge Simpsonordered Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to pay $118,458.37 in legal feesto a requester. Please contact Lisa A. Siciliano, . In the motion filed Wednesday, the county states that the petitions should be denied for a variety of reasons. color: white; Copyright 2023, All Rights Reserved | The Berks County Republican Committee said they filed the petitions after receiving complaints from some voters that voting machines were changing votes cast for Republican candidates for governor and U.S. Senate to ones for the Democratic candidates. background-color: #f9f9f9; color: black; } He said he brings to the table 20 years of impactful experience in the legal . 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