Kelly’s in,
Oh’s out — maybe

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

The close race for the final City Council at-large seat appears to finally be over.
Challenger David Oh, who claimed there were "improprieties" with absentee ballots, finished 122 votes behind Councilman Jack Kelly.
Oh and Kelly were both Republican candidates for seven at-large seats. Twelve candidates sought four-year terms in the Nov. 6 election.
The five Democratic candidates all won easily, and Republican Councilman Frank Rizzo was a strong sixth.
When all of the machine votes were counted, Oh held a lead over Kelly of seven votes — 60,366 to 60,359.
The challenger extended his lead slightly when provisional ballots were counted. Those are ballots cast by people who claim to be registered but whose names are not on the voting rolls.
However, Kelly held an advantage of 771-624 in absentee ballots, giving him an apparent 122-vote victory.
On Nov. 21, a three-member election court panel — consisting of Common Pleas Court Judges Chris Wogan and Pamela Pryor Dembe and outgoing City Commissioner Edgar Howard — certified the results. Kelly declared victory.
"The people have spoken," he said. "They have re-elected me for four more years in City Council."
Oh, a lawyer and ward leader from Southwest Philadelphia, had until 5 p.m. Monday to appeal that decision to Common Pleas Court. He didn’t, but instead asked the Board of Elections to issue a stay of its certification of the results. The board has not yet acted on that petition.
Earlier, Oh indicated that he wanted election officials to take a look at absentee ballots in five divisions in three South Philadelphia wards and one division in both the 56th and 66th wards in the Northeast.
More specifically, Oh said his campaign interviewed individuals who said they were given absentee ballots that were already marked. Others said they were assisted in making their choices. One man said he could not have voted because he is blind.
Oh said he is not sure that there are enough improper absentee ballots to make up the difference. He added that he is not pointing blame at any candidate or party.
The candidate said, even if the board does not act on his petition, he wants measures in place in future elections to prevent absentee-ballot fraud.
"I’m gonna do my best to ensure that the integrity of the election and the democratic process is respected," he said.
Kelly, who credited Oh with running a strong and spirited race, was attending Council hearings all day Monday on issues related to Fox Chase Cancer Center, Holy Family University and the Frankford Special Services District. His lawyer, Scott Sigman, was keeping him up to date on developments with the Oh appeal.
The incumbent thinks the race is over.
"Unfortunately in a hard-fought contest, somebody has to lose. In this case, it’s Mr. Oh," he said.
Oh was seeking to become the first Asian-American elected to City Council. He expects to run again if he does not prevail in this race.
"We ran a positive campaign and got a lot of votes," he said.
Kelly, of Somerton, appears ready to start his second at-large term. He previously represented the 7th Councilmanic District from 1988-91.
In the 2003 at-large race, Kelly placed a strong seventh to win a seat. Oh was ninth, about 14,000 votes behind him.
In the ’07 race, Kelly projected an image as an animal lover who wanted to make Philadelphia a no-kill city for pets. He believes the stance won him a lot of votes.
So, why was the race so close this time when Kelly easily outpolled Oh in ’03?
Kelly easily beat Oh in the Northeast but believes his margin might have been suppressed because some Republicans considered him a sure winner and focused their efforts on the re-election bid of Councilman Brian O’Neill (R-10th dist.).
In addition, Kelly cited vote totals that showed Oh did well in wards with large liberal and black populations.
"He evidently had some crossover appeal," he said.
Kelly was confident of victory, even when he narrowly lost the machine count. That’s because he expected absentee votes to favor him. He has closer ties to party leaders than Oh, and he was counting on Republican committee people to provide absentee ballots to elderly voters unable to make it to the polls.
Kelly isn’t the first elected official to hold onto his seat thanks to absentee ballots. In 2000, state Rep. John Perzel (R-172nd dist.) trailed Democratic challenger Mark Chilutti by 121 votes on the machines, but ultimately won the race by 92 votes thanks to a 473-260 advantage in absentee ballots.
"Every vote counts," Kelly said. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com