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DA Says No Criminal Conduct In Election Probe

WARREN, Pa. – The Warren County District Attorney’s office has closed a criminal investigation into the 2019 election.

The investigation commenced after a candidate for Warren County, Pa., commissioner — Connie Zaffino, who ran as a write-in candidate — wrote a letter to President Judge Maureen Skerda that levied a series of allegations against county elections officials and their management of the election.

The letter was also provided to District Attorney Rob Greene’s office, which triggered an investigation, and was posted on social media

“After a thorough investigation by Chief County Detective Brian Zeybel into the criminal allegations brought by an unsuccessful candidate, we have determined that there was no criminal conduct on the part of anyone involved in the 2019 Warren County election,” District Attorney Rob Greene told the Times Observer on Tuesday morning.

Zaffino highlighted a number of issues — the lack of a sufficient number of machines, potential conflicts of interests, the use of paper ballots, long polling place lines, among others – ultimately indicating that her intent was to “not have these issues occur again.”

She said that she believed “they all had the effect of suppressing voting.”

While there were challenges in the most recent election, Greene determined there was no “criminal wrongdoing.”

“The Warren County Election Board, Director of Elections and other candidates/parties named in the said allegations,” Greene continued, “are cleared of any criminal wrongdoing which may have been insinuated by said unsuccessful candidate. … My office now considered this matter closed.”

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