Published: November 05, 2008 09:56 am      

New – Foes challenge former Pa. senator’s absentee vote

PENN HILLS — Political foes who challenged former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum’s right to send his children to a Pennsylvania charter school are now challenging the absentee ballot he cast in the Pittsburgh suburb he calls home.

Edward Vecchio, the husband of Penn Hills Democratic chairwoman Erin Vecchio, has paid the $10 fee to challenge the former Republican senator’s right to vote as a resident of Penn Hills, Allegheny County, elections director Mark Wolosik said.

The Vecchios say Santorum really lives in Virginia, where he owns a $700,000-plus home in Leesburg; the senator also owns a smaller home in Penn Hills, next to his in-laws.

Vecchio’s filing accuses Santorum of “voter fraud” and says he lives with his family in an “undisclosed location” in northern Virginia.

Santorum told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he filed an absentee ballot because he knew he would be working as a political commentator for Fox News, where he was reached for comment in a New York City studio Tuesday night.

“I believe my vote should be counted,” Santorum said. “I’m not sure it will matter much but, yes, I believe my vote should be counted.”

Wolosik said he and the county elections department solicitor will review the challenge before it is sent to the county elections board. The Vecchios have the burden of proving that Santorum didn’t have the right to vote in Penn Hills, Wolosik said.

Erin Vecchio, who is on the local school board, made an issue of Santorum’s residency in the months before he lost his Senate seat to Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in 2006. She challenged his right to send his children to a cyber charter school paid for by the district.

Santorum withdrew his children from the school and the state Department of Education later agreed to pay the district $55,000 to settle the dispute. The state acknowledged giving the district conflicting rules about when a school district can challenge the state’s decision to withhold cyberschool tuition fees from the district.