State Committee Ruling Allows Radnor Dems Zoom-Vote For Open Primary In SD-17 Race (Cappelletti Vs Leach)
On Wednesday night (April 29), with a roll call on Zoom, and by a vote of 27-13, the Radnor Democratic Committee officially took a neutral position (or as some would say, they voted for an Open Primary) in the upcoming, hotly contested 17th District State Senatorial Race.
On February 2, at its convention in Springfield, The Delaware County Democratic Committee (DCDC), gave its endorsement to challenger Amanda Cappelletti, rather than to the incumbent Daylin Leach. Some are still questioning the legitimacy of that vote.
Haverford and Radnor are the only two municipalities in Delaware County which are part of the 17th District. At the February 2 meeting, members of the Radnor Committee voted by 24-12 in favor of an Open Primary. But Radnor only represents about 1/3 of the committee members (and voters) in the Delaware County portion of SD-17. A majority of the Haverford committee voted against the Open Primary initiative, and it failed to pass. That set up the controversial vote that enabled Cappelletti to win the DCDC endorsement.
Colleen Guiney, Delaware County Democratic Committee Chair
George Badey, Radnor Democratic Committee Chair
Earlier in April, Radnor Democratic Chair, George Badey sent an email to members, advising them that he planned to conduct a Zoom meeting on April 15, to vote on the whether or not to go along with the DCDC endorsement of Cappelletti, or to have an Open Primary. According to Badey, DCDC Chair, Colleen Guiney called him, and told him that he could not hold the vote remotely. Badey said that he asked her to “put that in writing,” which she did, in an email to all the members of the Radnor Democratic Committee.
Badey then appealed to the State Democratic Committee, and they issued a ruling that said that any Democratic Committees, in any county, could vote remotely.
Although she received more votes than Leach at the Montgomery County Democratic Committee’s (MCDC) convention, on January 31; Cappelletti’s vote there did not reach a sufficient level to win MCDC’s endorsement.
DCDC committee members, at their convention, voted by computer for the first time. Also for the first time, the committee used a combination of Ranked Preference and Approval Voting.
Before the convention, committee members were sent an email that included a link to a video that explained Ranked Preference, but that video did not address the Approval Voting aspect of the new DCDC process. However, Guiney said, at the time of the convention, that committee members were told in an email that, “as long as the winning candidate is also listed on at least 55 percent of ballots cast, they will receive the endorsement.”
After the Ranked Preference vote, Cappelletti had 69 votes out of 128 cast, or 53.9% – less than the required 55%. But three of the 47 voters who chose Leach as their first choice, also chose Cappelletti as their second or third choice. So those three votes were added to Cappelletti’s 69. And with 72 votes out 128, she had 56.25 of the votes, and the endorsement.
Badey said that he was able to produce affidavits from two committee people who voted for Leach as a first choice, and Cappalletti as second choice. Their affidavits claimed that they did not intend for their votes to count toward enabling Cappelletti’s endorsement.
In addition to casting their votes by computer, Delco committee members also filled out signed paper ballots. Badey said that he knows of at least two committee members whose paper ballots are different than their electronic votes. He also said that he has more than once asked Guiney to show him the paper ballots, but she has not complied with his request.
37,650 Democrats voted in the 2016, 17th District Senatorial Primary, in which Leach ran unopposed. 7,871 of his votes came from Haverford. 12,294 were from Lower Merion and Narberth. The remaining 13,313 votes came from Upper Merion, Bridgeport, East Norriton (where Cappelletti is from, and serves on the Board of Supervisors), Norristown, Plymouth Township, Upper Merion, West Conshohocken and Whitpain.,