Central Bucks Republican voters ask for a recount over school board election results

The Democrats who swept the Central Bucks school board races earlier this month won by a collective 4,300 votes — with the narrowest race a margin of several hundred.

But Republicans are now challenging the results — claiming there was “fraud or error” that warrants a recount in three of the five races.

The 15 petitions, filed with the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas Monday, mirror a tactic by Republicans who last year flooded Pennsylvania courts with challenges after the loss of GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano.

“This is a waste of time,” said Adam Bonin, a Democratic elections lawyer based in Philadelphia. He noted the win margins in Central Bucks: Of the three races in question, the tightest contest was Heather Reynolds’ win over school board president Dana Hunter, by 295 votes. (Reynolds won 53% of the vote to Hunter’s 47%.)

The petitions, which seek a hand recount, don’t specify what fraud or errors the voters believe occurred. Two petition signers responded to requests for comment Tuesday. One of them, Orest Mandzy, said in an email, “Why do you assume I think there was fraud or error in the election?”

Mandzy didn’t respond to a follow-up question about why he had signed a statement attesting his petition was “based upon information that I consider to be reliable and that makes me believe that fraud or error ... was committed in the computation, canvassing, and tabulation of the votes cast” in his precinct.

Catherine Mandzy said in an email that “Hillary Clinton is one of my idols and I thought I would follow her lead and seek a recount like she did in 2016.” (Among the other petitioners is Shannon Harris, who has challenged library books and sued the district over masking, which she called a “Satanic ritual.”)

The petition effort follows a bitterly contested election in the Bucks County district, which drew hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign spending. Republicans who were ousted had passed controversial policies, including prohibiting “sexualized content” in library books and barring staff “advocacy,” including the display of Pride flags in classrooms.

“I think it’s just another desperate, pathetic attempt to retain their grasp on power,” said Karen Smith, a Democrat reelected to the board. “Following up on the egregious settlement last week with Dr. Lucabaugh,” Smith said — referring to a $700,000 payout Republicans awarded the departing superintendent — “now there’s this.”

Smith said Harris emailed her the petitions Monday night, and she was formally served Tuesday. “The last time I ran for school board, I won by 4,” Smith said. Her opponent then didn’t challenge the results. “This, I’m up by 400.”

As long as they file petitions in every precinct, voters don’t need to present evidence of fraud in order for a judge to order a recount, Bonin said. All that’s required is a $50 filing fee — an amount Bonin said dates to the 1930s.

“It is not high enough to in any way compensate for the county for the additional labor which will go into this, or serve as a deterrent to frivolous actions, which this is,” Bonin said.

It wasn’t clear Tuesday when a judge might act on the petitions. James O’Malley, a Bucks County spokesperson, said the county expected a judge would schedule a conference with the parties involved in the case, and decide whether to order a recount.