In August 2021, above screenshot was the headline news in Berks County, where Chester County’s head of voter services came from:

WEST CHESTER – Chester County Commissioners Marian Moskowitz, Josh Maxwell and Michelle Kichline announced the appointment of Karen Barsoum as director of Chester County’s Department of Voter Services.

Barsoum brings to Chester County Voter Services more than 10 years of experience working within municipal government, including seven years as assistant director of election services for Berks County.

Yeah so people haven’t gotten on the ballot for the election and it’s not just the prothonotary. so that’s why when this video popped up of the recent county commissioners meeting this week I was all ears.

OK this. This is off the hook. This is the absolute BEST gem of the week and if the media or public had watched the recent Chester County Commissioners meeting this is all anyone would be talking about.

A woman made a public comment regarding the Voter Services director, Karen Barsoum. She was a former employee. One of my sources today told me that this woman was so excited to join voter services at first she felt like she was taking a job that made a difference.

So this lady is one of the former employees. I think she is really brave is coming forward the way she did.

She spoke about how Barsoum supposedly reacted to staff about the prothonotary being left off of the ballot and employees were treated, the high turnover rate, supposedly how HR has been involved and has done nothing and how can that be?

There has been an insane turnover rate and this woman who spoke said that only 3 seasoned employees remain since she was hired. A total of 27 left and/or got fired. The total number of employees for the department is now about 22?

There have been other issues with candidates getting on the ballot, etc., for this upcoming election that they haven’t talked about publicly and it seems to me there’s more going on here than has actually been discussed publicly and doesn’t public deserve to know what’s really going on in County Row?

So I know who one of the other elected officials is who is not on the ballot. It is the current chair of the West Whiteland Supervisors, Rajesh Kumbhardare.

Rajesh Kumbhardare, Raj as he is known to most is a very nice, hardworking man. He gives his all for his township and he decided to run for reelection. So he did contact voter services. I am told by my sources voter services was contacted to make sure he had everything in order to file. What I didn’t know until all of this is that it’s a bit of a different procedure as an incumbent versus somebody running for the first time.

My sources told me today that Raj turned his financials in to the township. When he filed his paperwork at voter services, however, they told him he had everything. Then after the fact they told him he didn’t have his financials and rejected him. His only recourse was to basically appeal to the courts, and at that point I was told that even some people from voter services did try to help him.

However, when he went to court and in front of Judge Verway , the judge denied him. Now people have to write him in on the ballot during the upcoming election to get him on the ballot for the fall. He should be on in the first place.

Now I know nothing about these filings so I asked someone else about the financial form. Someone said that the requirement to turn that financial form in with the other paperwork to voter services is a state regulation. But what concerns him he said is that no one caught that.

So if that’s a state regulation, why wasn’t he told when he called voter services initially this is a person who I am told is very detail oriented, so I am siding with him, although I really don’t know the man.

Further and to the point, I am told by other people that this has happened quite a few people this election season.

I think this is a county office in deep trouble. And I’m guessing a lot of of us would like to be a fly on the wall about what happened in the voter services office after these comments at the commissioners’ meeting, right?

Look, I don’t know what’s going on with County Row, but we deserve to feel secure in our elections, and after these mistakes and the recent county commissioners’ meeting, I now have legitimate concerns that we are.

My opinion is probably not going to be popular with some in the county, but that woman who spoke was even and calm and measured, and it was obviously very hard for her to have to speak her peace on this. I respect her for coming forward and I think everyone should. 

I will tell you in all fairness, that there were a couple of times when I had to call voter services and the people who answered the phone were very nice. But I can also tell you that the first time I called I was so impressed by the woman who answered the phone, that I wrote her name down.

There was a significant amount of time between when I called the first time and when I called the second time that lady wasn’t there anymore. And the second time I called is when this new director had taken the job. Coincidence? I honestly have no idea.

And again, I’m not trying to start a witch hunt here, but something is obviously very wrong with this office. Now, because there are problems with this office, there are people that have gotten left off the ballot who shouldn’t have been left off a ballot and I think that’s ridiculous.

Is my opinion that the county commissioners have to stop doing things like hiring CFOs and CXOs and start paying attention.

I also find it sad that not one single commissioner at that May 5 meeting even thanked that woman for the courage of standing up and leaving a public comment. I was also astounded at how empty the meeting was and how the media hasn’t picked up on this.

Less photo ops more governing, please. And while we’re talking about things, you never hear about Chester County any longer isn’t it interesting how the whole Advaite of it all has just disappeared?

I swear things happen in this county at the county level and you hear about it early on and then it all disappears doesn’t it? So what happens when you take the dust out from underneath the rug where things have been swept?

Chester County where have you gone?