Probe continues in election complaint

MERCER, Pa. -- An investigation continues and more details have emerged about a possible election law violation in the May primary.
Mercer County District Attorney James Epstein confirmed that Mary Ann Lark of Hermitage made an election complaint earlier this year.
She said that when she voted in May at Hermitage Precinct SW 4 at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, she was given a ballot with the name of Diane Skinner written in for a two-year seat on the Hermitage School Board.
Poll worker Minnie Dyll told Lark that she had written the name in, Epstein said. Dyll is Skinner's mother. Epstein said there is no evidence that Skinner was involved in the incident.
Skinner was the only candidate in the May primary to receive the necessary 100 votes necessary to appear on the November ballot as a candidate for the unexpired term of Carol Rich, who resigned in 2003. Skinner was, as a result, the only name on the ballot Tuesday for the two-year term, which she won with 2,416 votes in the unofficial count.
Dyll had been approved as a voting machine operator for this week's election but was removed after the complaint was filed. Lark is a sister-in-law of Mercer County Democratic Chairman Robert Lark.