Lackawanna County election preparations
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — From your local election headquarters on Tuesday, Pennsylvania voters head to the polls for the 2024 primary election.
These primaries are crucial because they determine who will represent each party in the race for positions ranging from local offices up to federal representatives and of course, the presidency.
The road to the 2024 general election, 25 state senate seats, all 203 seats in the state house, state treasurer, auditor general, and attorney general are all up for grabs in this year’s primaries.
“The polls will open at 7:00 a.m. Tomorrow and they close at 8:00 p.m.,” said Elizabeth Hopkins, Election Director of Lackawanna County.
The deadline to return mail-in ballots is also at 8:00 p.m., straight to the election office or in the drop-box
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“It’s very important to know you can only return your own ballot, you cannot bring anyone else’s ballot and return it for them, you have to return your own ballot,” Hopkins added.
The primary election sets the stage for the general election, and political scientists are hoping for a larger turnout compared to the mid-term primary election in 2022.
“Our turn-out isn’t as high as we would like, two years ago, turn-out in the mid-term election; the primary for the mid-term, was about 15 percent, which is not good. Turn-out really is important to decide what direction the government, state and national, are going to be moving in,” stated Dr. Jean Wahl Harris, Ph.D. Professor of political science at the University of Scranton.
Every vote matters, especially here in the swing state of Pennsylvania…
“it really can go either way, and so the demographics of the state have not changed drastically, but, more and more registered voters are registering as independent, and so those are the voters both democrats and republicans really need to pull in, in order to win an election,” Dr. Harris continued.
This election paves the way for who will be on the ballot in November and is a reminder that some of the polling locations changed in Scranton last year, so if you haven’t voted since the last federal cycle, make sure you check with the Lackawanna County Elections Office to see where you need to go to cast your ballot.
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