The civil suit filed on behalf of mayoral candidate Pat Sabatini against the county board of elections is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday at the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas in courtroom six with Judge Mellon presiding, according to Charles Groff, Committee Chair for the grass-roots political action group FEDUP (The Committee For Electing Democrats and Uniting People).
Groff said he expects the court to rule in Sabatini’s favor, allowing him to go forward in his quest to become mayor of Bristol.
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As LevittownNow exclusively reported, the suit alleges there were votes not credited for Sabatini on the Republican side of the ballot during the May 21 primary.
Read: Suit Filed in Challenge of Bristol Borough Mayoral Primary
Sabatini’s attorney, Lou Hornstine said “As you know the Court has directed us to appear on Tuesday morning. All three candidates and their representatives have been given notice. It is my hope on behalf of Pat Sabatini that the court will agree that an error occurred. Should we prevail on this issue, the Court will then direct a corrected recount. Based on the information available we feel strongly that Pat will be declared the Republican nominee and face Mr. Saxon in the general election.”
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The essential premise of the petition is the “petitioners believe, based upon information considered to be reliable, that there exists fraud or error in the canvassing of the write-in ballots cast in the primary,” Hornstine’s argued in the petition filed earlier this month.
The two other candidates in the race incumbent Bob Lebo and School Board Member Joe Saxon were notified about the hearing over the last two days, Groff said.
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Read one section of the petition, covering the north ward of Bristol Borough click here.
According to county numbers there are 955 registered Republicans and 5,331 Democrats, in Bristol Borough. The total amount of voters pulling a lever in the mayoral primary is unknown at this point since the vote counts have yet to become official, according to Board of Elections Director Deena Dean. There were, however, 2,207 Democratic voters on primary day, with approximately 41 percent of registered Democratic electors participating in Bristol Borough mayoral primary, according to counties “unofficial” results posted online.
“I want to wait till the judges gavel hits wood before I really comment on anything. It seems premature to me to do so until after an official decision is made,” Sabatini said Saturday.
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Groff said “Its been a long and difficult journey since the inception of this group in December. We’ve been mocked and laughed at. Prior to the primary we weren’t taken seriously. We love Bristol Borough. We believe in transparency of government and we look forward to supporting Pat in his bid to become the Republican candidate for Mayor of Bristol Borough.”
As they say, “all politics is local.”
