About 15 county residents who attended the county commissioners meeting Wednesday to reiterate their demand that the commissioners agree to a forensic audit of the 2020 election argued with the county solicitor when he said those refusing to wear a mask during the meeting would have to leave.

Those not wearing a mask told Wil White, solicitor, they should not be required to wear masks for a number of reasons, including that it infringes upon their rights, social distancing was possible in the meeting room and other contentions.

The three commissioners and all county employees wore masks at the meeting. Only three or four members of the election audit group wore masks.

White repeated several times that masks were required during the commissioners meeting and those who refused to wear them would be asked to leave.

But after a few minutes of the back-and-forth between White and the residents, Leslie Osche, commissioners chairwoman, called the meeting to order.

She explained that the commissioners anticipated a large group of people requesting an election audit again this month, so masks were to be required per the advice of Butler Health System officials.

“We anticipated that we were going to have a room full of people,” Osche said. “I don't really see a roomful of people.”

Those who refused to wear a mask at the most recent meeting were not made to leave the meeting because the large crowd that attended last month's meeting did not materialize.

Just before the public comment session at the end of the meeting, the commissioners said they would not engage in a forensic audit of the 2020 election as requested by the group.Osche said an effort is currently afoot in Harrisburg to have the state legislature approve a statewide election audit.“We are awaiting some ruling from the Senate and House on how that might be conducted,” she said.Osche also said she would not commit to a county-level audit that excludes the 89 judges of elections who work to provide voters with the opportunity to cast their vote each year.“I do not want to discredit their role,” she said.Commissioner Kim Geyer said that unlike a county-level audit, a state election audit would be uniform across all 67 counties in Pennsylvania.“I don't believe it would be in the best interest of the taxpayers to preliminarily go out ahead of other counties and do an audit,” she said.She said if a county-level audit showed inconsistencies, the state could order the county to incur the expense of performing a second audit.“That would be a terrible waste of taxpayer dollars,” Geyer said. “We will proceed in the best interest of Butler County.”

Commissioner Kevin Boozel said the Pennslvania Department of State has warned counties on the potential decertification of voting machines if they were compromised by a county-level audit.“That is a cost our taxpayers should not have to bear,” he said.He said in large part, politics is behind the request for the county to conduct an audit.“Many did not understand how the election was run,” Boozel said.He said the commissioners are the facilitators of an election, but an order for an election audit would have to come from the General Assembly.Geyer agreed that the county's voting machines could be compromised in a rogue audit, which could affect the ability of voters to cast their ballots in the next election.“The commissioners have an obligation to all taxpayers in Butler County to not jeopardize their ability to vote,” Geyer said.She decried the efforts of State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-33rd, to conduct a forensic audit similar to that of Arizona.Geyer said no issues with the Arizona election have been uncovered after five months of auditing.She suggested voters view “viral information” with caution when applying it to situations close to home.

Osche stressed that her decision to wait and see if the state will conduct an election audit does not mean she is in total agreement with the way the governor and Department of State handled the election.Ten people spoke during the public comment session to implore the commissioners to go ahead with a county-level election audit.Many and varied reasons and statistics were listed by the residents.Others decried situations they considered suspect during the election.Catherine Lalonde, chairwoman of the Butler County Democratic Committee, spoke against an election audit during the public comment session.No action was taken by the commissioners.