A Bucks County commissioner this week recommended “a full disclosure policy” for vendors who bid on voting machine delivery and handling contracts. Commissioner Diane Marseglia’s proposal for the policy comes a week after two independent candidates in the Lower Makefield supervisors’ race filed an ethics complaint with the county Board of Elections.
The candidates, Ron Smith and Kristin Tyler, accused Republican supervisor candidates Dobby Dobson and Jeffrey Benedetto of violating “every electoral standard of ethics” because they did not disclose that Dobson’s company hauls voting machines to polling places throughout the county. Dobson is a general manager with Graebel Eastern Movers Inc.
In late 2009, the commissioners signed the Moorestown, N.J., company to a two-year contract for just less than $105,000 to haul the machines. Dobson signed the bid form for the contract. The longtime township resident announced eight months ago that he was running for one of two supervisor seats up for election this year. He did not notify election officials of his role in the election process.
“I didn’t think I had to,” Dobson said last week. “In retrospect, maybe I should have talked to somebody.” Within hours of receiving the ethics complaint, elections officials decided to have county workers deliver the machines to the 38 polling places in Lower Makefield for the Nov. 8 general election.
Dobson’s company will deliver the machines to the rest of the polling places. Marseglia, near the end of the commissioners’ meeting Tuesday, said the situation should never have gotten to that point.