Primary election Tuesday: What you need to know
May 18—Today is primary election day.
All registered voters in Pennsylvania may vote in the primary. Only registered Republicans and Democrats may select candidates for elective offices, but all voters may vote on four ballot questions.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Anyone in line by 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote. A list of polling sites is posted to the election page of the Luzerne County website: https://www.luzernecounty
.org/1085/Find-Your-Polling
-Place
Mail-in ballots may be dropped off at a secure drop box in the lobby of the Penn Place Building, 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Three other drop boxes the election bureau had placed in the county's cities, including Hazleton, have been removed and are not available Tuesday.
Voters who requested a mail-in ballot but did not receive one may cast a provisional ballot at their assigned polling site.
Also, voters who requested and received a mail-in ballot but did not return it may bring the entire ballot packet, including the secrecy envelope and outer mailing envelope, to their assigned polling site and request to vote in person.
Voters who vote at a polling site in Luzerne County will use the Dominion electronic voting system.
It includes a touchscreen ballot-marking device, a printer which provides a printout for voters to confirm their selections, and a scanner/tabulator into which voters place the printout to record their votes.
The vote is not recorded until the printout is placed in the scanner/tabulator.
Voters with questions may call the county election bureau at 570-825-1715. The phone lines at the election bureau might be busy, especially in the morning.
Election process
Election officials will start to open and sort mail-in ballots, a process known as pre-canvassing, at 8 a.m. That process is not open to the public, though representatives of political parties and candidates on the ballot may observe.
Ballots will not be tabulated until the polls close at 8 p.m. The tabulation of ballots will be open to the public in a courtroom on the third floor of the Penn Place building.
As of Monday, the election bureau had received 15,985 mail-in and absentee ballots out of the 23,209 ballots the bureau sent out, deputy election director Eryn Harvey said.
It is unclear whether all those ballots will be tabulated Tuesday. Election officials plan to stop tabulating ballots at 9 p.m., Harvey said.
Last November, tabulation of ballots was suspended shortly after 10 p.m. on election night, with 26,612 ballots counted.
County judge race
Five candidates cross-filed to appear on both the Republican and Democratic ballots for Luzerne County judge.
They are seeking two Republican and two Democratic nominations. The winners advance to the November election, which determines two seats on the county bench.
Three judicial candidates are registered Democrats — Magisterial District Judge Alexandra Kokura Kravitz, former county councilman Jim Bobeck and West Pittston attorney Laura Dennis. Two judicial candidates are registered Republicans — State Rep. Tarah Toohil and former District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis.
County-wide races
Nine Republicans and five Democrats filed to run for five available Luzerne County Council seats.
The nine Republicans are Chris R. Perry, incumbent; Gregory S. Wolovich Jr., Brian Thornton, Ronald Knapp, Kevin Lescavage, Carl G. Bienias III, John Lombardo, Michael G. Vacendak and Martin L. Dartoe.
The five Democrats are Sheila Saidman, incumbent; Matthew Vough, incumbent; Jane Walsh Waitkus, Maryann Velez and Jimmy Sabatino. They are all but assured of winning their party's nomination.
In the county controller race, Councilman Walter Griffith was the only person to file as a Republican, while incumbent Michelle Bednar was the only person to file as a Democrat.
Ballot questions
Voters will decide whether to approve three amendments to the state Constitution, as well as a referendum on whether to expand a state loan program for volunteer fire companies and ambulance services to also include paid fire companies and EMS services.
Two of the proposed Constitutional amendments address whether the state legislature should have the authority to extend or terminate a state of emergency declared by the governor.
The other proposed amendment would add language to the state Constitution that prohibits the denial or abridgement of rights on account of an individual's race or ethnicity.
Municipal and other races
Voters will also choose nominees for municipal offices such as mayor, borough council, city council, township supervisor, tax collector and constable, as well as school board director.
Also, voters will select candidates for Supreme Court and Commonwealth Court judge.
Schuylkill County
Schuylkill County Election Bureau Director Albert L. Gricoski is not sure how turnout will be in Tuesday's Primary Election, which will see local voters cast ballots for two open judgeships, three countywide offices and numerous local positions.
"I don't have a leaning one way or another," he said Monday as his office prepared for the voting in the county's 67 municipalities. "I don't have a prediction on how busy it will be."
He did say the predicted sunny skies and warm temperatures should play a role, as turnout usually is higher under such conditions.
Gricoski also cannot say how long the vote count will take and when it will be finished, although he does not believe it will take all night. He did say the bureau will start counting the votes when the polls close at 8 p.m. and will not stop until all are tabulated, as has been standard practice in the county.
"We're hoping it will be an early evening," Gricoski said.
In November, the counting lasted until about 8:15 the next morning.
Despite Thursday's changes in guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding mask wearing, Gricoski said, "Be safe out there. We're asking everybody to wear their masks."
The CDC eased mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings. Exceptions to the rule are in crowded indoor spaces, such as buses and planes, and in congregate settings, such as hospitals, homeless shelters and jails.
As for masks and elections, the latest CDC guidance, posted April 20, is to "recommend and reinforce the use of masks among all workers" and to "encourage voters to use masks while in the polling location."
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., although anyone who is in line by the latter time will be allowed to vote.
Mail-in ballot requests
Gricoski said his office received approximately 5,800 requests for mail-in and absentee ballots, which proved to be popular in the 2020 General Election due to the pandemic. About 4,600 of them have been returned, he said, with the deadline to do so being 8 p.m. Tuesday.
In the November election, the county sent out 20,590 absentee and mail-in ballots, of which 16,414 were received by the deadline.
Unlike in 2020, "curing" any improper filling-out of those ballots will not be permitted this year, according to Gricoski.
"I don't think they're allowed to do that this time," he said. "We're not required to do it."
He said he does not believe voters will see any other differences at the polls from the 2020 balloting. Key races
Today's county voting will focus in large part on the race for two seats on the six-judge Court of Common Pleas. Although two Democrats and two Republicans are running for the positions, all four have cross-filed on each party's ballot, leaving open the possibility of only two candidates being on the Nov. 3 General Election ballot.
Judge Christina E. Hale, who was appointed to fill the seat of the retired John E. Domalakes, and Pottsville lawyer and Assistant County Solicitor Christopher W. Hobbs are the Republican candidates, while Schuylkill Haven lawyer James G. Conville and Orwigsburg lawyer and Assistant District Attorney Julie D. Werdt are the Democrats in the race.
The second open seat resulted from the decision of Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin not to run for retention after having served on the county bench for 30 years. The two positions are not differentiated on the ballots the voters will cast.
Hale, of Butler Township, served as a lawyer and Frackville-based magisterial district judge before ascending to the county bench.
Hobbs, of Pottsville, is the son of the late state Sen. Frederick H. Hobbs and the son-in-law of the late state Sen. James J. Rhoades. He also has served as an assistant public defender and currently practices law with the Pottsville firm of Lieberman, Tamulonis & Hobbs.
Conville, of Port Carbon, has been practicing law approximately 27 years and works with the Schuylkill Haven firm of Zane, Rossi, Conville & Harley. He also serves as a guardian and advocate for children in the county court.
Werdt, of East Brunswick Township, has her own solo law practice in addition to working as an assistant district attorney. She handles criminal cases from the office of Magisterial District Judge Anthony J. Kilker, Shenandoah.
While there are three other countywide races, for controller, district attorney and sheriff, none has a primary contest and only one will have a competitive race in November.
Acting Controller Sharyn Yackenchick, of Wayne Township, a Republican, is running to complete the unexpired term of Christy Joy, who resigned to enter private business. No Democrat is running for the position.
District Attorney Michael A. O'Pake, a Norwegian Township Democrat, also is unopposed in the primary, and will also be in November, as he seeks a second term.
Sheriff Joseph G. Groody, an Ashland Democrat, also faces no primary opponent. Republican Doug Litwhiler, a Ringtown police patrolman, also is unopposed for his party's nomination and will face Groody in November.
There also are numerous municipal, school board and magisterial district judge races across the county.
All can vote on questions
While only Republicans and Democrats will be allowed to vote in their parties' primaries, voters who are independent or affiliated with another party can vote for four statewide questions on the ballot.
Carbon County
The polls are also open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Visit carboncounty.com for complete information on the election, including a listing of polling places and, after polls close, results from Tuesday's voting.
Contact the writer:
emark@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2117
