GOP Luzerne County Election Board contenders seeking court appointment

Both Republicans under consideration for one seat on Luzerne County’s Election Board have now filed court petitions asking county judges to appoint them because county council did not select someone within 60 days.

County council members had nominated Richard Nardone and Alyssa Fusaro on Feb. 22. Short two council members that evening, the vote was 5-4, with Nardone in the lead for reappointment. However, six votes are necessary for board appointments.

The county’s home rule charter allows any resident to petition the County Court of Common Pleas to fill a board vacancy that existed 60 days, with a majority vote of county judges required to appoint someone within 30 days. The court would be free to seek applicants and conduct its own selection process.

Since Nardone’s seat expired the end of 2021, the 60th day was on Tuesday, March 1.

Nardone, of Slocum Township, filed the first petition seeking a court appointment around 9:20 a.m. Wednesday.

Fusaro said Thursday that she filed a petition Wednesday afternoon, asking the court to appoint her. The court record shows it was time-stamped at 2:56 p.m.

This is new territory because Nardone was the first citizen to file such a petition since the county’s home rule charter took effect a decade ago.

Council had planned to vote again on the appointment at its next regularly scheduled meeting on March 8, now that new Councilman Carl Bienias III has been sworn in and seated. Councilman Tim McGinley was unable to attend Feb. 22 due to a personal matter but said he supports Nardone.

If council fills the seat next week, county judges could choose to dismiss the petitions on the argument the matter is moot.

Nardone and Fusaro both filed their petitions pro se, or without legal representation, and did not seek a stay from the court to stop council from acting until the court considered the matter.

But Fusaro said she believes the filing of her petition automatically puts the matter in the court’s hands.

An argument could be made that council should be permitted to fill the seat because it attempted to do so on Feb. 22 and had no control over the absence of McGinley and a vacant council seat left by Walter Griffith when he became controller. Bienias was appointed to Griffith’s seat during the Feb. 22 meeting.

Should the court choose to honor council’s appointment to the board, Nardone or Fusaro would have the option to appeal that decision to Commonwealth Court.

The election board is an independent body that oversees elections, makes determinations on flagged ballots and write-in votes and certifies election results.

Council voted Feb. 22 to appoint Danny Schramm to a Democratic vacancy on the election board. He will serve with current members Patrick Castellani, Audrey Serniak and Denise Williams.

Fusaro said she wants to serve on the board because she does not believe “both sides” of some issues are “properly” represented.

She singled out mail ballot drop boxes as a main example, saying she would have argued against providing them.

“It’s about bringing integrity back to our election process,” Fusaro said.

Nardone said in his petition he gained experience serving on the board for nearly 10 months last year and has “the best interests of the voters” in mind when making decisions. During his interview seeking reappointment last fall, Nardone said he had been diligently working with other board members to implement protocols that minimize the potential for errors in elections.