Schuylkill County will have a new district attorney beginning the new year.

A judge has dismissed the petition which challenged the district attorney election.Attorney Christine A. Holman defeated incumbent District Attorney Karen Byrnes Noon in the Nov. 5 election and will become the first elected female district attorney in Schuylkill County.Byrnes still holds the position as being the first woman district attorney but she was appointed two years ago to fill the vacancy of James P. Goodman who became a county judge.After the hearing Friday in the Schuylkill County Court, President Judge William E. Baldwin handed down a ruling in which he claimed he found violations in counting the ballots election night at the Election Center in the STS (Schuylkill Transportation System) bus warehouse in the Saint Clair Industrial Park.It wasn't sufficient to overturn the election.The final vote results stand, District Attorney Elect Holman, (Republican) is the winner receiving 15,265 votes and District Attorney Noon, (Democrat) 15,192 votes.The violations of which Judge Baldwin referred was the manner of making corrections of votes on absentee paper ballots but did not effect the vote count. The problem was in scanning the absentee ballots. Ballots which would not register the vote were duplicated by the Resolution Board comprised of two registered voters each from the Republican and Democratic parties. When the duplications were also not accepted the vote was recorded manually.The petitioners claimed this was done illegally but testimony proved them wrong. Edward Barket, a former county commissioner, and Mark Scarbinsky, the county administrator, both Democrats, explained the duties of the Resolution Board."We resolve the problem with a defective ballot," Barket explained and proceeded to explain how this was done.He reported some ballots were marked in ink or very light pencil marks. On these ballots they shaded the intended vote of the voter and returned the ballot for scanning.On ballots which were torn or folded in such a manner that they could not be scanned, Barket said they would make a duplicate and stamp it as a resolution ballot and place the original one in a locked box through a slit hole. Both Barket and Election Director Frannie Breenan testified all votes were counted.Judge Baldwin ruled that the shadings on a ballot were not proper and a duplicate should have been made and the original ballot retained so that there could be a record of this vote. The judge also pointed out that there was no problem with the machines doing the counting; only with a certain number of absentee ballots which the machine rejected.The three county commissioners, Frank Staudenmeier, chairman; George Halcovich and Gary Hess, testified as to the manual count.When the problem arose with the absentee ballots the technician sent by the company whose machines the county has for counting the votes approached them and asked them to observe his entry by manual operation of the vote on the ballot.The three commissioners testified they stood by at his side and verified the vote cast from the ballot. On straight ballots from one precinct they were totaled before recorded. Judge Baldwin also claimed this was not a proper manner that each ballot should have been recorded separately. Commissioner Halcovage and Hess both added they did not find anything improper in the count.Testimony by telephone was given by Mr. Burgan, the technician who assisted the county in counting the votes election night. His testimony was similar to that of the commissioners.He added when Election Director Frannie Brennan explained that the scanners were not able to count a certain number of ballots, estimated around 40, he told her they could be entered manually but insisted the election board be with him to verify the recording.The petitioners argued that Mr. Burgan was not a registered voter of the county and also was not sworn in prior to the start of the recount as the other workers were given the oath by the prothonotary. Judge Baldwin commented he also should have been sworn but found nothing wrong in the manner the vote was recorded manually.After the hearing District Attorney Elect Holman announced that Attorney Maria Casey, who represented her in the hearing would be her first deputy when she takes office in January.