In Pennsylvania, county councilors and commissioners often double as local election administrators, handling everything from voter registration to counting ballots. Their role in certifying election results has become increasingly contentious in the aftermath of the 2020 election as Trump allies attempt to exert more control over the voting process.
A number of administrators who are responsible for overseeing elections in their counties amplify Trump’s claims of a “rigged” election in 2020 or continue to spread disinformation about election integrity. They include:
- Sam DeMarco III | Allegheny County Council
Sam DeMarco, who also chairs the county GOP, is running for reelection as a councilman in 2024 (unopposed) after voting against certifying the 2020 presidential results in Allegheny County and attempting to subvert the outcome of the presidential election that year by serving as one of Pennsylvania’s fake electors. In June 2022 the FBI questioned him about his role in the fake electors scheme. - Christian Leinbach | Berks County Board of Commissioners Chair
In June 2022, Berks County was one of three in Pennsylvania that refused to include certain ballots in their certification totals. The following month the state sued the county boards of election for failing to include valid mail-in ballots with undated return envelopes in election certification totals for the 2022 primary election. As chair of the county commission, Christian Leinbach testified in July 2022 that he “could not in good conscience vote to certify undated ballots.” The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ordered the county and two others to include the ballots in their certified results. Earlier that year, Leinbach endorsed fake elector Lou Barletta for governor over the more extremist Republican candidate Doug Mastriano, neither of whom won. - Michael Rivera | Berks County Board of Commissioners
In August 2022, Michael Rivera defended the county’s initial refusal to count mail-in ballots that were sent without a dated return envelope. The same month he voted to hire a county election services director who some considered a highly partisan choice since she had worked for a state representative who supported overturning the 2020 election results in Pennsylvania. - Amy Webster | Blair County Board of Commissioners
On January 6, 2021, Amy Webster wrote a Facebook post sending her “prayers” for protesters’ safe travel to Washington and her hope that they enjoy the “patriotism generated.” During a June 2022 commissioners meeting, she said, “the integrity of elections must be restored — if it is not, this nation will be torn apart by distrust.” Webster also said that the state rushed to implement Act 77, which allows for mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania, for the 2020 election cycle. Republicans challenged the law, but it was upheld by the State Supreme Court. - Doug McLinko | Bradford County Board of Commissioners
Doug McLinko has spread disinformation about the 2020 presidential election and echoed Trump’s claims that he didn’t lose Pennsylvania and Biden “fraudulently won.” He refused to certify the county’s election results in 2020 and attended the March to Save America on January 6, which he described as “upbeat” and “fun” (referring to the rally as opposed to the attack on the Capitol). In 2022, McLinko sued the state and secretary of state in an effort to halt Act 77, which allows for mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania. He also attended a September 2022 meeting at Trump Tower in NYC to discuss the integrity of Pennsylvania’s voting process. - Kimberly Geyer | Butler County Board of Commissioners
In June 2022, Kimberly Geyer responded to an email from Zachary Scherer, leader of the conservative Butler PA Patriots, saying that, “Commissioner Osche and myself are for election integrity and working in our respective capacities at the state and local levels to restore the system and repeal Act 77 [the state legislation allowing for mail-in ballots].” She also wrote, “we are doing everything we can to reverse this unconstitutional System.” In August of that same year, Geyer voted in favor of a hand recount of the 2020 election ballots in two precincts, which the Pennsylvania Department of State criticized for being “continued efforts to question the results and ultimately the will of Pennsylvania voters” that “contribute to sowing distrust in our system.” - Leslie Osche | Butler County Board of Commissioners
In August 2022, Leslie Osche voted in favor of a hand recount of the 2020 election ballots in two precincts, which the Pennsylvania Department of State criticized for being “continued efforts to question the results and ultimately the will of Pennsylvania voters” that “contribute to sowing distrust in our system.” In email correspondence with the CEO of the election denial group Audit the Vote PA, Osche stated that she did not “trust the concept behind” the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a nonprofit that roughly 30 states use to maintain voter registration data and that has been the target of a number of conservative conspiracy theories. - Tim Winters | Clearfield County Board of Commissioners
In the lead-up to the 2020 election, Tim Winters used his Facebook account to post about election fraud and conspiracies. In May 2020, he shared an article titled “Mail carrier tampered with absentee ballots requests, West Virginia AG says.” Winters added, “Vote by mail they said… no chance of any fuckery there.” He shared another article in June that alleged widespread mail-in ballot fraud in New Jersey, captioning the post, “Vote by mail riddled with fraud. I’m shocked.” - Charlie Bayle | Erie County Council (District 6)
According to Rolling Stone, Charlie Bayle posted on Facebook shortly after the 2020 presidential election, “Anyone in this country with an ounce of common sense knows the left cheated to some extent. Their philosophy isn’t about making it easier to vote, just easier to manipulate the vote.” - Scott Dunn | Fayette County Board of Commissioners
In June 2022, Fayette County was one of three Pennsylvania counties that refused to include certain ballots in their certification totals. The following month the Pennsylvania Department of State and secretary of the commonwealth sued the county boards of election for failing to include valid mail-in ballots with undated return envelopes in election certification totals for the 2022 primary election. In a July 2022 hearing about the issue, Scott Dunn testified that there was ambiguity around previous court orders and state law about undated mail-in ballots. In August, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ordered the county and two others to include the ballots in their certified results. - Dave Lohr | Fayette County Board of Commissioners
In 2022, Dave Lohr and the county Board of Elections refused to certify results from the May primary that included mail-in ballots with undated envelopes. In July the Pennsylvania Department of State and secretary of the commonwealth sued the county board for failing to include valid ballots in election certification totals for the primary. Lohr told the Observer Reporter that the Thomas More Society, an ultra-conservative nonprofit focused in part on election integrity, was representing the county in its defense against the state lawsuit. The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ordered the county and two others to include the ballots in their certified results. - Randolph Bunch | Fulton County Board of Commissioners
According to PA Spotlight, Randolph Bunch wrote in an email to State Senator Judy Ward that “we can’t let this election get stolen,” cited a tweet from Trump about suspicious voting machines, and allowed a third party company to copy county voting machine data in 2021 and 2022. The state elections agency sued him and the county in 2024 to recoup more than $711,000 in legal fees and litigation costs associated with the three-year battle over allowing outsiders to examine county voting machines based on Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud. In December 2023, Bunch also voted to provide Trump ally Stefanie Lambert with “evidence” used by the third party that examined the voting machines. He was present during a rogue December 2020 audit of the county’s voting machines and attended rallies in Washington on January 6. - Todd Graybill | Juanita County Board of Commissioners
Todd Graybill has shared social media posts questioning election security in Pennsylvania, including one claiming to have found “illegal ballots” that affected Arizona’s 2020 election results. “We’ve known this all along. It’s in many other states as well like Ga.[,] Pa. etc…” he wrote on Facebook in 2021. Graybill also posted an article falsely claiming that thousands of invalid ballots “could have changed” the results of the 2020 election. “And did,” he concluded. - Chris Chermak | Lackawanna County Board of Commissioners
While running for reelection in 2023, Chris Chermak told Spotlight PA that mail-in ballots and drop boxes are convenient but “another way to cheat the system.” In 2021, he filed a complaint after obtaining a video of a man stuffing ballots into a drop box, fueling false theories about voter fraud. The county’s district attorney “thoroughly investigated the complaint” and found “zero evidence of election fraud.” - Ray D’Agostino | Lancaster County Board of Commissioners
Ray D’Agostino has suggested that allowing voters to fix signature and date errors on their mail-in ballots is a violation of the Constitution’s equal protection clause. In 2022, just weeks after attending a right-wing conference hosted by election denier Cleta Mitchell, he voted to remove the county’s only drop box for mail-in ballots. D’Agostino also signed an “election integrity” declaration from the PA Patriot Coalition claiming that “the move to mail-in and drop-box voting in Pennsylvania has seriously undermined the integrity of our electoral process.” Following the May 2022 primary election, Lancaster was one of three counties that initially refused to certify its results, forcing the state to sue the county board of election for failing to include valid mail-in ballots with undated return envelopes in its certification totals. The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ordered the county and two others to include the ballots in their certified results. - Josh Parsons | Lancaster County Board of Commissioners
In 2022 Josh Parsons voted to remove the county’s only drop box for mail-in ballots. He also signed an “election integrity” declaration from the PA Patriot Coalition claiming that “the move to mail-in and drop-box voting in Pennsylvania has seriously undermined the integrity of our electoral process.” Following the May 2022 primary election, Lancaster was one of three counties that initially refused to certify its results, forcing the state to sue the county board of election for failing to include valid undated mail-in ballots in its certification totals. The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ordered the county and two others to include the ballots in their certified results. - Harry Haas | Luzerne County Council
Harry Haas has cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, posting on Facebook in November 2020 that “there are many arguments to suggest this election was stolen” and sharing a Tucker Carlson claim that dead people had voted in the election. He also wrote an op-ed for the Times Leader saying, “I disagree with ‘no excuse’ mail-in voting because it makes our most vital institution super convenient at the expense of secure elections. It ‘solves’ a nonexistent problem, opens up elections to fraud, allows big money to manipulate elections and decreases our sense of community.” - Kevin Lescavage | Luzerne County Council
During a 2021 Citizens’ Voice editorial board meeting, Kevin Lescavage said, “I’m not in favor of ballot boxes,” and when asked if he thought the outcome of the 2020 presidential election was legitimate, he replied, “To be honest with you, I’m not sure.” Lescavage voted in favor of a 2022 ordinance prohibiting county employees and contractors from handling or transporting ballot drop boxes. That same year, he voted in favor of a resolution urging the state General Assembly to prohibit the use of mail-in ballots and drop boxes in Pennsylvania and voted against purchasing a ballot-sorting system to process mail-in ballots. During a Luzerne County Board of Elections and Registrations meeting in May 2022, Lescavage referenced the widely debunked documentary 2000 Mules and claimed that “ballots [are] being counted more than once” and drop boxes offer “a vehicle to cheat.” - Brian Thornton | Luzerne County Council
Brian Thorton voted in favor of a 2022 ordinance prohibiting county employees and contractors from handling or transporting ballot drop boxes. That same year, he proposed a resolution urging the state General Assembly to prohibit the use of mail-in ballots and drop boxes in Pennsylvania. According to the Times Tribune, Thornton was quoted as saying, “The no-excuse mail-in ballot system is full of fraud.” In addition, he voted against purchasing a ballot-sorting system to process mail-in ballots in 2022. - Alyssa Fusaro | Luzerne County Board of Elections
Before her appointment to the board of elections, Alyssa Fusaro told the County Council that “ballot drop boxes are not in our best interests and I’m against them, and I’m going to lay it right out there for you: we shouldn’t have them.” In 2022 she twice voted against certifying the election results—on November 28, saying, “There were so many challenges, so many issues, so many problems, so many concerns, that I can’t with good conscience certify this election,” and again on November 30. - Scott Metzger | Lycoming County Board of Commissioners
In September 2022, Scott Metzger approved the addition of a ballot question challenging the continued use of an electronic vote tabulation system in the county, based on debunked claims about the 2020 election straight “out of former President Trump’s playbook,” according to PennLive. The commission ultimately rescinded its approval after the members were informed that they lacked the authority to authorize the referendum. In 2023, Metzger voted for an expensive hand recount of the 2020 election results, a demand of Audit the Vote PA, a denial group spreading false claims about the election. The recount found no meaningful difference in votes. - Thomas DiBello | Montgomery County Board of Commissioners
Tom DiBello has shared his views about fraudulent elections on Facebook, including a May 2020 post that accused then Governor Tom Wolf (D) of promoting and forcing “fraudulent voting by mail,” as well as an April 2020 post that said “voter fraud goes on across the country.” In response to Spotlight PA’s survey questions about the legitimacy of the 2020 election and the state’s level of election security, DiBello acknowledged the January 2021 transition of power to President Biden as “following the legitimate process,” but expressed “concerns regarding the election process in Pennsylvania.” - Scott Hough | Northampton County Election Commission
In November 2023, Scott Hough voted against certifying the results of a local election—and was surprised when the county council voted to reappoint him to the election commission but noted that they still have “unfinished business” from the last election. - Robert Rossman | Potter County Board of Commissioners
Robert Rossman has shared his election denialist views on Facebook, including a December 2020 post with a picture of Joe Biden in handcuffs and “Voter Fraud!” emblazoned on the back of his jacket, along with the comment that “Hopefully the bad actors will all get what they deserve.” In a repost of Trump’s January 6 message about a “sacred landslide election victory” but asking rioters to “go home… and remember this day forever,” Rossman added in response to someone who took issue with his post that the results of the 2020 election were “statistically impossible.” - Barron Hetherington | Schuylkill County Board of Commissioners
In 2022 Barron Hetherington signed an “election integrity declaration” backed by more than 40 groups in the state asserting that “the move to mail-in and drop-box voting in Pennsylvania has seriously undermined the integrity of our electoral process.” - Larry Padora | Schuylkill County Board of Commissioners
Larry Padora posted on Facebook that he “believe[s] there was fraud” in the 2020 election and knew “for a fact” that Democrats cheated. - Nick Sherman | Washington County Board of Commissioners
In June 2022, Nick Sherman wrote an opinion piece in the Observer-Reporter newspaper arguing that “lack of security and consistency with mail-in ballot voting drop boxes prove they threaten election integrity. Drop boxes are our least secure way of voting and should be eliminated.” The piece cited 2000 Mules, the widely debunked documentary purporting to show Democratic interference in the voting process during the 2020 presidential election, as evidence. At a July 2021 commissioners meeting, Sherman also claimed without evidence that voter fraud was occurring in other parts of the state, including in Allegheny and Philadelphia counties. - Doug Chew | Westmoreland County Board of Commissioners
In 2020 Doug Chew declined to count mail-in ballots that were improperly dated or arrived nine minutes late due to a USPS delay. While testifying before a Pennsylvania Senate committee in March 2021, he claimed that 20,000 residents of Westmoreland County were potentially disenfranchised during the 2020 presidential election because of expanded mail-in voting, and that “a lot of Westmoreland County voters view mail-in ballots as very ripe for fraudulent activity.” In April 2022, Chew voted to eliminate all but one ballot drop box in the county for the primary elections. - Sean Kertes | Westmoreland County Board of Commissioners
In 2020 Sean Kertes declined to count mail-in ballots that were improperly dated or arrived nine minutes late due to a USPS delay. He was also one of three commissioners named in a 2021 lawsuit filed by the former county election bureau director, who claimed Kertes’ secretary had urged her to change her party affiliation from Democratic to Republican because the commissioners were getting “heat” from county officials over her party affiliation. In April 2022, Kertes voted to eliminate all but one ballot drop box in the county for the primary elections.