Latest news with #RonaldRepak
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rep. Burns, Cambria County officials at odds over ballots for primary
EBENSBURG, Pa. – The Cambria County Board of Elections has approved a slate of elections custodians and workers ahead of the May 20 municipal primary election. The nearly 30 election workers approved Thursday will receive stipends of $85 to $150 for their work at the courthouse on election night – the range depends on how long they are scheduled to work, the elections board said. However, state Rep. Frank Burns, D-East Taylor Township, issued a press release stating the county has yet another election issue. He said he received a phone call from Pennsylvania Department of State Secretary Al Schmidt on Thursday morning, informing him that Cambria County misprinted its ballots for the May 20 primary. Burns said he was told the order of judicial race candidates presented on the ballots was incorrect, that the 'State Department flagged the problem a month ago' and that 'the county ignored that notice and plowed ahead with misprinted ballots, which have already been mailed to voters.' 'The county commissioners need to take action,' Burns said. 'They can no longer hide from the failures of the election mishaps on their watch.' Speaking on behalf of the county commissioners, Cambria County Solicitor Ronald Repak issued an email saying Burns' claims are partially false. It is correct that the only two names listed under the Republican state judge race were in the reverse order for the mail-in ballots sent out prior to May 6, Repak's email said. However, the county's elections director, Nicole Burkhardt, made contact with the Department of State to alert them to the mail-in ballot issue and seek guidance – not the other way around, Repak's email said. 'The Cambria County director of elections reached out to the Department of State to let them know of the inverted names on the Republican state judge race mail-in ballots and was told to segregate those mail-in ballots to ensure they are properly marked and scanned,' Repak's email said. The problem was rectified in 24 hours, he said. 'We want to be clear, the Cambria County Director (of elections) found that two names were inverted on the state judge race for the mail-in ballots only,' he said. ' ... We appreciate that the County Elections Department did not wait, but took swift action to correct it. Any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Elections Department.' Moreover, the precinct ballots for election day are correct, he said. 'Additionally, for this May primary, the County will be testing the actual precinct ballots before disbursement to the precincts to avoid the issue related to the previous election,' Repak said in his statement. As for the approved election workers, their duties include collecting materials from polling places, counting mail-in ballots and working with ballots delivered by truck on election night, according to the elections board – a board that is composed of the Cambria County commissioners. In addition, county elections office staff said it has hundreds of elected inspectors and clerks are set to work at local voting precincts across the county. Somerset County Voter Registration and Elections Director Tina Pritts said Somerset's 230 local election workers are also preparing for election night. She said there will be 15 county employees who handle the ballots at the courthouse on election night. Pritts expects lower voter turnout for the upcoming municipal election compared to the last election in November, in which voters turned out in droves to elect the United States President and congress members. Cambria County experienced a unique problem during the last election: the county's voting systems malfunctioned. Ballots that couldn't be scanned due to a printer error were collected by Cambria County sheriff's deputies and hand-delivered to the courthouse where they were hand-counted with poll watchers from both parties present. However, as the municipal primary approaches, the county's voting machines – and the election-day paper ballots – have been tested for accuracy and dependability, Repak said. Repak said the county commissioners and elections office have taken steps to prevent a repeat problem. 'We are doing everything we can to make sure it's tight for May and November elections,' he said.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cambria County approves agreement with ICE on detained illegal immigrants at prison
NORTHERN CAMBRIA, Pa. – The Cambria County commissioners Thursday approved a new agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for removal of detained illegal aliens in the Cambria County Prison. This is part of the Warrant Service Officer program under Section 287(g) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 that allows ICE agents to partner with state and local law enforcement to identify and remove criminal aliens from the country. Cambria County Solicitor Ronald Repak said people arrested and detained at the prison who are flagged as illegally in the country by the Department of Homeland Security during processing would be held without bail due to their immigration status. Federal agents would then arrive at the prison within 48 hours to collect the detained person for potential deportation proceedings. 'That's consistent with what the prison has been doing,' Repak said. 'They're not taking over as an ICE agent – they're simply filling the papers out (and) making sure they're served appropriately. But it's all under the supervision of ICE.' This agreement is one of three the county could have adopted. The others are the Jail Enforcement Model and Task Force Model, which provide more immigration authority to local and state law enforcement. Repak said the agreement is voluntary and 'working closely with ICE is something the commissioners are interested in doing.' ICE and President Donald Trump's administration in recent months have increased deportation efforts that in some cases have led to the detention of some college students, arrests of legal permanent immigrants and dramatic scenes as agents carry out their duties. Trump has also invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to target alleged Venezuelan gang members and send them to a prison in El Salvador, which has brought up questions of due process from rights groups. U.S. judges in New York and Texas barred those deportations for now Wednesday. Cambria County Prison Warden Kurt Wolford said the arrangement won't have an impact on jail operations and described the action as a continuation of cooperation with the federal agencies. 'We've always had a good working relation not only with the Department of Homeland Security, but really any law enforcement agency,' he said. Wolford said he recognized that immigration is a 'hot-button issue,' but said the agreement simply allows Cambria County Prison officials to assist the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ICE's parent agency. According to the ICE website, the Warrant Service Officer program empowers ICE officials to 'train, certify and authorize state and local law enforcement officers to serve and execute administrative warrants on aliens in their agency's jail.'
