Tyranny at the Polls

Nov 4, 2016

Op-Ed piece written by Jason Hoover

When the days get cooler and the leaves start to turn, I can’t help but think about elections.  And I’m not talking about the national election, I’m talking about local township elections, the ones that are usually overlooked but have the largest impact on our daily lives. Last year, Save The Valley endorsed  one candidate (out of four) that we thought would fight for the protection of open space in the township.  We decided to maintain a presence at the polls to inform voters of our endorsement of this candidate, as well as to talk about open space preservation within Beaver Valley.  But what started off as an effort from concerned citizens being active on election day turned into a huge violation of our civil liberties, taken away by small-time elected leader.  What happened on election day is a story that has to be told. 

Tuesday, November 3rd 2015, Concord Twp, PA - I took up post at Maris Grove (the retirement community), one of ten polling stations in Concord, passing out innocuous information about open space and endorsing the “open space candidate”.  We’ve done this many times before and were wise to the antics we expected to encounter by the opposition, and having run into problems in the past, I took the utmost care to comply with every rule within election law as well as within the facility. To avoid problems as the director of Save The Valley, I obtained written permission from the polling stations stating that we were allowed to be there. As an even greater precaution, I was required to share the literature we would be distributing that day in advance so it could be granted approval (I’m not aware of any other election district that requires this).  But despite the precautions I took, Concord Township leadership did not want me there and would find a way to kick me out. 

A little background - The leadership in Concord Township is used to running unopposed, and up until recently has done so for the last 40 years.  It wasn’t until the last two elections that they’ve ever had a challenger. The leadership, which is run by an incestuous circle, most with ties to developers (see Pic 1, below), are not used to having challengers and the very threat of losing their locked in positions brings out the worst.

I got to the polling station early in the morning, eager to begin.  I set up my table and began passing out literature on open space.  State Representative Steve Barrar was set up at the Republican table next to me, but did not take well to my presence. First, he tried to get security to remove me from the property. It wasn’t until after a conversation with the director of Maris Grove stating that I had permission to be there that security calmed down. Determined to block me from speaking, Steve Barrar decided to do just that, physically block me from speaking to any voters. In a childish manner, he stood directly in front of me holding signs that impeded mine. If I moved to the side, so did he, hissing "I can stand wherever I want". If I tried to speak to anyone, he would wedge himself between me and that person.   He stole my literature and threatened to sue me.  I was here to talk to voters, not run a daycare.

In a desperate attempt to silence our message, he and township supervisor Dominic Pileggi made a few calls to their buddies at the courthouse. They fabricated a reason to kick me out and within an hour I had a hand-delivered court injunction and a police escort out of the building. The notice issued by Judge Mary Alice Brennan, was hastily assembled - consisting of an amalgamation of typed and handwritten text scribbled on paper (see below).  The notice was initiated by Concord supervisors Dominic Pileggi, Kevin O'Donoghue, and Gail Ryan, along with PA State Representative Steve Barrar among others. No one would tell me why I was being kicked out (which I later found out was due to a bogus claim of “coercing and intimidating voters”), but if I resisted I would have been arrested.  I was ordered to vacate all polling locations for the rest of election day in Concord Township, Bethel Township, and Chadds Ford Township.  That day, members from the ruling party swept the rest of the polling locations throughout the day and forcefully confiscated the materials Save The Valley volunteers were passing out without explanation. This blatant censorship left those who witnessed it with their jaws on the floor. A great injustice occurred that day in Concord. 

Download full doc here

As infuriating as this episode might be, it demonstrates a scarier truth - that if left unchallenged a small group of people in power can do whatever they want.  Let me contrast this story with another. A group of about fifty Concord residents tried to get a question placed on last year’s township ballot, which would give the township leaders slightly less power by providing equal representation from each precinct, rather than having all the representatives “at large”.  The procedure for doing this is difficult – first file the appropriate paperwork and then gather 20% of the township’s signatures.  After weeks of hard work from dozens of volunteers, they finally obtained the required two thousand signatures to get the question on the ballot.  But the township rejected their request due to a bogus technicality (something about only being able to do this on census years, in other words, only once every ten years). The group appealed to the supreme court of PA and won, but the decision was passed back down to the lower courts who once again rejected it. Thousands of dollars later, the case was squashed.  In response, the supervisors put their own question on the ballot to counteract this movement by giving themselves even more power, and to do this required approval from no one other than themselves.

Why is it that a large group of concerned citizens can’t obtain access to the legislative process after months of hard work and jumping through countless hoops, but the township leaders can write their own questions without any approval?  Why is that the township leaders can expunge any opposition to their party on election day?  Why is it that the Board of Supervisors can approve development plans that clearly violate the township code without justifying their decision?

Those in power are able to manipulate the system to their advantage while the citizens are left powerless.  Is this what our founding fathers envisioned when they set up a fair system after escaping the tyranny of the English monarchy?

What happened on election day by Rep. Steve Barrar and Supervisor Dominic Pileggi was a clear infringement on our first amendment right, the freedom of speech and freedom to peaceably assemble. As a representative of the state of Pennsylvania, it's Barrar's duty to protect and uphold the process, not exploit it for personal gain. If he won't do it, maybe it's time for someone who will.

What can you do about this? Call Steve Barrar and tell him that he shouldn't have silenced citizens on election day. Tell him he needs to do a better job upholding the democratic process, not exploiting his power for personal gain. Tag him on this post when you share it on facebook (with @repbarrar). Write on his facebook wall and on his photos.  Talk to your friends about this.

Email: parep160@aol.com 
Phone: 610-358-5925
Website: www.stevebarrar.com

Go ahead and click the "share" button below and tag Rep Barrar with @repbarrar:

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