Supervisors get pink slip

[Sal]

Newton Township voters came out in force and the results were, 590 voted to reduce the board and 350 voted to keep it at five.  The current supervisors - including the one that will be appointed by a judge - will  serve until December 31, 2005, and then the new supervisors will take over.

Despite the heavy turnout, there were no problems and the lines moved quickly.  However, there was one minor incident outside.  George Koerner and I were passing out flyers to let the voters know that the question was on the ballot and where it was located.  A person walked up to me and stated that what we were doing was illegal.  I told him that there are election officials inside and he should report it so that they can come out and explain to us what is illegal and how to correct it.  I knew that we were not doing anything wrong because I checked with an election official before doing anything and we were told that being outside was fine because more than 50 feet away from the voting machines.  I asked George if he knew whom that person was.  George said yep that’s Ron Imdorf, the guy that caused us to have five supervisors.  Mr. Imdorf came back out without an official and told us we had to be 300 feet away. He said he was taking pictures and that he would challenge the referendum because what we were doing was illegal. There was an exchange of words and without getting into specifics, I told Mr. Imdorf to take his pictures and leave.

[davidk]

       
First off I want to thank Sal and George for donating thier time and efforts to this camapign. They spent many hours outside the poll handing out information and talking to voters. Without thier intrepid service this initive would not have passed.
Second. There was nothing wrong in their being outside the poll. Thye obeyed the laws easily. Where this 300 feet rule came from I have no idea. And I challenge anyone to show me the state code where it is codified.
The opponents had every opportunity to devote their time and energy at the polls. Yet thye apparently chose not to. Anymore than they chose to inform the electors years ago when the first referendum was passed.
Last, and surely not least by any stretch, I want to thank everyone who voted to reduce the size of government. We showed everyone that with some hard work and an uderstanding of the rukes changes can be made.
There were over 1,400 people who came out to cast ballots either in person or via absentee that day. That is out of approximately 1750 (I'm not usre of the exact total with all the new registrations) voters in the township. That is a remarkable event.
As Sal said everything went smooth with a few minor bumps including the situation he mentioned as well as some dicussion as to access to the polling place during the count once the poll closed. That however is subject to another post.

[Floyd]

I felt that voting wen t smoothly as well. The only thing my wife and I ran into was a locked door! This was kind of funny as we were Kerry supporters! I'm glad the board was reduced to three, five was not needed. My son voted via absentee from Boston, glad to know the absentee ballots came through.
Keep up the good work.

[Floyd]

Here is the response from the kid in Boston:
If that isnt grassroots democracy in action, I don't want is! I love
it! Goodbye 5 supervisors! go NewtonPA.com!!!

[davidk]

Sorry about the typos in my previous post. As you can see it was early in the morning and I was rushing to get my work done so I could get to the courthouse for the supervisor hearing.
Floyd, welcome to the board.
The locked door you mention was handled by 7:30 when I got there. I ran into it also and immedietly informed the Judge of Elections.
Which is not to say there were not time during the day I didn't want to go and relock it myself.
Things were busy almost all day. By 9:00 we already had several hundred people through. The only real lul came around lunch time which is usually a busy time. Then again this is Newton ........
I was there from 7:30 till 10:45 pm with only an hour break to take care of some work at home. Such is the day for a poll watcher.

[Sal]

Hi Floyd and welcome to our little community board.

I hope you come back often and say whatever is on your mind and I ask that more people get involved so that we can all share ideas.  

We are at a transitional point where major changes will take place in this township and there is much more work that needs to be done.  However, I believe that in the end we will have a model township where the citizens and politicians will be partners; they will share ideas and work together not for the township but for the benefit of the people in the township.

[M2]

glad to know i helped get some signatures to have the question put on the ballot.