A lawyer representing Luzerne County is seeking to have state House candidate Jamie Walsh's voting rights lawsuit moved from county to federal court.
Attorney Mark E. Cedrone cited Walsh's allegations that the county's actions have violated his constitutional rights of freedom of speech and due process as the reason for the request.
"Because these folks have made a federal constitutional claim, we've chosen to exercise the county's right to take this matter to federal court to adjudicate the claims in the complaint," said Cedrone, of Philadelphia, who is representing the county and its election bureau.
"We feel as though the appropriate thing to do was to actually relieve the local court of the burden," Cedrone added.
Contentious hearing
Wednesday's hearing was held before a panel of three county judges: Tina Polachek Gartley, Lesa Gelb, and Fred Pierantoni.
Cedrone's announcement came at the end of contentious proceedings during which Walsh's attorney, Charles Kannebecker, sought to call potentially dozens of witnesses who were never named as plaintiffs in Walsh's suit.
The case, which was filed on Oct. 25, claimed officials were taking too long to process voter registration and mail-in ballot applications.
The deadline for voter registration applications was Oct. 21. Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo emailed county officials the same day Walsh's suit was filed to inform them voter registration processing was complete.
The deadline for mail-in ballot applications was Oct. 29 — four days after Walsh's suit was filed.
Cedrone called the suit "patently frivolous."
"He, the plaintiff, has already voted," Cedrone said of Walsh. "The issue is moot."
Cedrone and Kingston attorney Joseph M. Cosgrove, who separately represented the county Election Board, argued against Walsh's request for a preliminary injunction, stating that there were no violations to be resolved.
"The board has followed the law. We're here on a nothing," Cosgrove said, asking what was actually done wrong, and by whom.
"All we have is 'we think something is wrong,'" Cosgrove said. "That is not sufficient."
Seeking to sort the question out, Gartley asked Kannebecker if anyone had actually been wronged.
Kannebecker said a number of people had registered to vote but had not yet seen their names appear on county voter rolls, and that he intended to call them as witnesses.
"We're talking about (applications) that were sent in weeks ago ... (some) months ago," Kannebecker said.
Cedrone pointed out that Walsh was the only person listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit — a point Judge Pierantoni reiterated — and that defense attorneys had not previously been provided any information about the witnesses Kannebecker intended to call.
The judges decided to proceed with witness testimony, but Cedrone and Cosgrove argued they were entitled to have the witnesses' names and birthdates so the defense could research their registrations and ballot requests as applicable.
The judges called a 30-minute recess for that purpose.
'We're not going to waste judicial time'
When court reconvened shortly after noon, Cedrone announced that the county was seeking to have the case moved to federal court.
Kannebecker called the move "unfortunate."
"I agree that it's unfortunate," Judge Gelb said.
"We want to make sure we are protecting the right to vote of everyone in Luzerne County," she added shortly afterward.
An exasperated Judge Gartley put a halt to the hearing.
"We're not going to waste judicial time," Gartley said. "If they (federal court) send it back to us, we will reconvene immediately."
The judges rose and left the room.
Cedrone told reporters afterward that his staff was in the process of filing the application with U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, but declined to speculate on how quickly the request might be considered.
Online federal records accessed later Tuesday afternoon showed the request had been filed and the matter assigned to U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann in Williamsport.
An order from Brann indicated that a telephone case management conference would be set for 1 p.m. Thursday.
After the judges left the courtroom, Kannebecker told reporters he knew of about 27 voters who had filed registration applications ahead of the deadline and have not yet seen their names on registration rolls. Kannebecker also said he knew of 30 to 40 voters who have yet to receive the mail ballots they requested.
A tense exchange followed, as Cedrone told reporters that the defense had researched the records of seven witnesses whose names were provided by Kannebecker during the recess.
Cedrone began by reading out the name of one, whom he said was registered in Bradford County and had already voted there.
An angry Kannebecker suggested that Cedrone was speaking loudly so his potential witnesses, who were gathered in the back of the courtroom, would hear.
After a few quiet words with Luzerne County Sheriff's deputies, Kannebecker and his group eventually left the courtroom.
Cedrone told lawyers outside the courtroom that in addition to the Bradford County voter, the defense learned that others had already submitted completed mail ballots, while others had been issued ballots though they had not yet been returned.
Kannebecker expressed frustration with the judges' decision to suspend proceedings pending the county's request to have the case transferred.
"It's incredible to me that we're facing opposition to giving the citizens of Luzerne County the opportunity to vote," Kannebecker said. "The court should have been helpful. Instead, they were not."
Cosgrove declined comment when approached by reporters after the hearing.
A reporter asked Cedrone why he thought Walsh and the people claiming delays took the matter to court instead of going to the election bureau to seek relief, ahead of the election.
"Do you want my opinion? My opinion is they want to make a show of things," Cedrone said.
