Montco Commissioners Suspend Two Staffers for Unexplained Voter Registration Error

Upholding a recommendation made by the County Board of Elections in May, the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners announced this week that the director and assistant director of voter services would be suspended for failing to explain to the Election Board who was to blame for a voter-registration error.

The combined suspensions amount to three unpaid days.

The error in the Voter Services department led to about 3,200 voters being registered incorrectly as “unaffiliated,” county officials said. Upon review of the names, the department concluded that the people were already registered.

Chairman James Matthews called the issue “substantial" and an "embarrassment to the county.”

Voter Services Director Joseph Passarella will serve a two-day unpaid suspension, while Assistant Director Patricia Allen will serve a single day unpaid suspension.

(Passarella, director since 1994, makes more than $70,500 a year, PhillyBurbs.com reports. Allen clears $61,000. The two declined to comment on the disciplinary actions, reporter Margaret Gibbons wrote.)

Of the 3,200 erroneous registrations, 695 voted in May’s primary elections.

The Board of Commissioners entered executive session at the end of Wednesday’s meeting to discuss the action, described as a “personnel matter.”

When asked, Matthews said that the board had reached a consensus but that no official vote on the action was needed or taken: “There is no objection to the administrative decision to suspend."

The County Board of Commissioners' next meeting is scheduled for July 7.