Today is Primary election day. The polls are open from 7am to 8pm. A reminder to those who have mail ballots to return..it must be received by your county election board by 8pm this evening and postmarks do not count. In Luzerne County you can bring mail ballots to Penn Place Building in Wilkes Barre today until 8pm.
Voters in Luzerne County will be using paper ballots and will be given a pen to mark selection of candidates instead of using electronic ballot marking devices.
In Lackawanna County, voters who cast ballots in Ward 23 Precinct 3 at Robert Morris Elementary School in Scranton will be voting outside using the EMA Mobile Command Center. The change was announced yesterday while the Scranton School District awaits air quality test results for asbestos. Over the weekend asbestos abatement work was done and the building was closed yesterday for additional cleaning and testing.
The race for Lackawanna County Commissioner is on and will be closely watched. There are four Democratic candidates vying for the seat which will be vacant as current Democratic Commissioner, Debi Domenick is not seeking re-election. Those candidates are Bill Gaughan, Matt McGloin, Philip Robson and Michael Fedorka. Fedorka is also a Dickson City councilman and is running for another term there as well. Democratic three term Commissioner Jerry Notarianni is running for reelection. On the Republican side, Brian Reap is running against incumbent Commissioner Chris Chermak, Diana Campbell and former Commissioner Laureen Cummings.
In Luzerne County there are 7 Democrats and 12 Republicans vying for nominations for Luzerne County council. Four of the Republicans are incumbents.
Other races drawing plenty of interest include Dallas and Wyoming Area School Boards, as well as several Magisterial District Judge positions.
Democrats Michelle Bannon and Maria Lawler are both running for the open spot for Mayor of Carbondale. Current mayor Justin Taylor is not running for another term. There are no Republicans on the ballot.
Party nominees for four open seats on Pennsylvania’s statewide appellate courts will be settled in the primary election. Tuesday’s top-of-the-ticket race is for a state Supreme Court seat. On the Democratic ticket are Dan McCaffery of Philadelphia and Deborah Kunselman of Beaver County. Both of them currently sit on the statewide Superior Court. On the Republican ticket are Carolyn Carluccio, a Montgomery County judge; and Patricia McCullough, a judge on the statewide Commonwealth Court. Two seats are open on the Superior Court, and one is open on the Commonwealth Court.
Democrats’ narrow majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is on the line Tuesday with two special elections that will determine which party controls the chamber. One of those special elections is expected to swing Republicans’ way, but the other in Delaware County, in the Philadelphia suburbs, will be more competitive. The stakes are high: A Democratic victory in Delaware County would give first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro at least one chamber to aid his agenda going into the final month of budget negotiations. The results could also affect a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights that legislative Republicans are one House vote away from putting before voters as a referendum.
Pennsylvania voters can find comprehensive voting information at vote.pa.gov. New this year on vote.pa.gov are web pages fully translated into Spanish. For voters who wish to vote in person at their polling place on Primary Day, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. May 16. Voters can also call the Department of State’s year-round election hotline, 1-800-VOTESPA (1-877-868-3772), or follow the hashtag #ReadytoVotePA on social media.
Voters in four wards in Luzerne County will be heading to different polling places in today's primary election. The changes are...Wilkes Barre Ward 5 will move from Dan Flood Elementary School to St. Mary's Byzantine Catholic Church, Wilkes Barre Wards 10 and 11 will move from Heights Murray Elementary to Marymount School and Hazleton Ward 5 will move from Holy Rosary Church to Terrace Plaza.