Latest news with #Pritts
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
With 'many write-ins,' Somerset elections could take weeks to finalize. How it works
SOMERSET ― The county elections computation board started meeting Friday and will continue until its work is done, which could take up to two weeks. The main reason: "There were many write-ins," said Somerset County Elections Director Tina Pritts. In the context of elections, a computation board is a panel that reviews and validates election results, including write-in votes and potential irregularities. The overall primary "was very quiet. We had about a 24% turnout," Pritts said. In fact, the results statewide were similar, she said. In Somerset County, there were 11,428 ballots cast, 3,212 Democrat and 8,212 Republican. "We had four nonpartisan in Elk Lick Township because of the referendum (asking for a tax increase over the allotted amount)," Pritts said. Election results for Voters spoke out in the May 20 primary with their ballots on whom they wanted to sit on the state's intermediate appellate courts benches. Among the choices were state judges. There are two intermediate appellate courts in Pennsylvania: the Commonwealth Court and the Superior Court. Commonwealth Court presides over civil actions brought by and against the state government and hears appeals primarily in cases involving state departments and local governments. There is one seat open on the Commonwealth Court this year. The Democratic Party has one candidate on the ballot. Republican voters chose Matthew Wolford over Joshua Prince to represent their party in the general election with 5,270 votes to 1,949. More: Voters unofficially pick winners for two district judge nominations in Somerset County Superior Court handles criminal, family and civil cases that are appealed by county courts. There is one seat open on the Superior Court this year. The Democratic Party has one candidate on the ballot. Republican voters chose Maria Battista to represent their party in the general election with 4,803 votes. Opponent Ann Marie Wheatcraft received 2,460 votes. The local state trial court, known as the Somerset Court of Common Pleas, has a judge position open. So far, only Somerset County District Attorney Molly Metzgar (R) has declared that she is running for the position. She received a total of 7,539 votes in the primary for the position. More: Who will move forward to November from contested Somerset County school board slots Other countywide positions not contested were all running as Republican candidates and included: Cullen Swank, for coroner, who received 7,720 votes; Jeannie Custer, for prothonotary, 7,457 votes and Anthony "Tony" DeLuca for treasurer, 7,171 votes. These are the unofficial results, according to the county elections office. Once the computation board is finished with its work, the results will become official. There could be changes depending on the write-ins. This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Election results: Write-ins slowing Somerset County final tally
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'What we had expected': Cambria, Somerset voter turnout less than 25% for primary election
This year's primaries on Tuesday brought the relative quiet of municipal elections compared to the hoopla of the 2024 presidential election cycle. In November's general election, more than 110,000 people combined voted in Cambria and Somerset counties with races for president, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Pennsylvania General Assembly and state row offices taking place. This spring, with state judge, local government and area school board contests occurring, approximately 19,000 people voted in Cambria and 10,000 in Somerset. 'Honestly, it was pretty much what we had expected,' Somerset County Director of Voter Registration and Elections Tina Pritts said. Pritts said that despite the lower volume 'as far as the procedures that we do and the tasks that we have to complete, they're all the same.' 'As far as the turnout, last year with the presidential obviously, there was a lot more information from the candidates being sent to the voters via television, via social media, via mail, compared to this year where you won't see that during a municipal election,' Pritts said. Approximately 24% of registered voters participated in Somerset. Cambria's turnout was just under 23%. Nicole Burkhardt, Cambria County Election Office's new director, said that was 'about what I expected.' Cambria ballot errors Cambria needed to address an issue in which Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania candidates Josh Prince and Matthew Wolford were listed in an incorrect order on some Republican Party ballots. More than 1,500 GOP primary ballots were returned, with the 'bulk of them' being the ballots with errors, according to Burkhardt. County officials knew which ballots were proper and which ones had the mistake. The incorrect ballots were taken aside. Two-person bipartisan teams then remade new ballots – transferring information from incorrect ballots to ones that had Prince and Wolford listed in the proper spots – so they could be scanned. 'The goal is zero errors,' Burkhardt said. 'We did put in precautions and the precautions caught the errors. By catching them, even though there was a mistake, we were able to fix it and know exactly what we were doing ahead of time to fix it, which made things run so much smoother.'
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Somerset County 2025 primary election is here. What to know
Pennsylvania's 2025 primary election day is upon us. On Tuesday, May 20, Democrats and Republicans will be filling out ballots that vary depending on where voters live in the county. The races will include positions for magisterial district judges, mayors, school boards, and borough and township offices. Voters in Elk Lick Township will also have a local ballot question to answer about increasing taxes to pay for first responders. What: Somerset County primary races in schools, townships, magistrates and boroughs Somerset County Voter Registration & Election Office anticipates "a low turnout," according to Elections Director Tina Pritts. Meanwhile, at an emergency meeting of the Somerset County Board of Elections May 16, a resolution was adopted to change the polling location in Garrett due to the May 13 flooding. The polling place has been moved from the Garrett Borough Office to the Garrett Volunteer Fire Department at 303 Jackson St. The resolution can be found on the commissioners' and elections government websites. There are 415 residents who live in Garrett, according to the 2020 U.S. Census, and there are 256 registered voters there, Pritts said. All the other polling places have not changed, she said. There are 48,321 county residents registered to vote in the primary, with 32,649 as Republicans and 10,737 as Democrats, she said. The mail-in ballots have remained around 3,000, Pritts said. Somerset County voters will nominate a candidate for the position of Common Pleas Court judge. Currently, Molly Metzgar, Somerset County District Attorney, is running for that position on both the Republican and Democratic ballots. Statewide, voters also will be able to weigh in on primary candidates for judgeships for the Commonwealth and Superior courts. Each court serves a distinct role within Pennsylvania's legal system. The state's two intermediate appellate courts have the power to affirm or reverse decisions made in lower courts. Their rulings can be appealed to the state Supreme Court, Pennsylvania's court of last resort. Judges serve initial 10-year terms, then face a nonpartisan retention vote, which usually succeeds. The mandatory retirement age for Pennsylvania's judges is 75. Commonwealth Court presides over civil actions brought by and against the state government and hears appeals primarily in cases involving state departments and local governments. There is one seat open on the Commonwealth Court this year. The Democratic party has one candidate running, and the Republican party has two. Republicans will choose between Matthew Wolford and Joshua Prince. Wolford is a solo practitioner based in Erie and specializes in environmental law, though he has also worked in state government in the past. Prince, who is based in Berks County, runs a law firm that specializes in gun-related litigation. Meanwhile, Democrats will see only one candidate on the ballot, Stella Tsai. Tsai has served as a judge on Philadelphia's Court of Common Pleas since 2016. Superior Court handles criminal, family and civil cases that are appealed by county courts. In the race for judge on Superior Court, Republicans will choose between two candidates and Democrats will see only one candidate on the ballot. Republicans will choose between Maria Battista and Ann Marie Wheatcraft. Battista is currently president at Judge Government Services, a consulting firm. A Clarion County resident, she previously served as assistant general counsel for the Pennsylvania Departments of Health and State under former Govs. Tom Corbett, a Republican, and Tom Wolf, a Democrat. Wheatcraft is based in Chester County and has served since 2012 on the county's Court of Common Pleas. She became the court's president judge at the beginning of this year. Democrats will see only one candidate, Brandon P. Neuman. Neuman, of Washington County, has served as a judge on the county's Court of Common Pleas since 2018. He was a member of the state House of Representatives from 2011-17. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. If voters are in line by 8 p.m., they can still vote. A completed mail ballot that was not sent must be returned to the county elections office, not at the polls, on election day. More: Elk Lick Townships residents will get to decide on a tax hike. What to know If a mail-in or absentee ballot was requested but not filled out and sent, that voter may surrender it, along with the outer return envelope, at his or her polling place, then vote on the county's voting system. If a voter goes to his or her polling place but their name is not listed, or they forgot to change their address or they went to the wrong precinct, among other reasons, that voter has the right to vote using a provisional ballot. A provisional ballot records a vote while the county board of elections determines whether it can be counted. This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Somerset County 2025 primary election is here. What to know
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Somerset County commissioners approve purchase of electronic poll books
SOMERSET, Pa. – Somerset County is expected to use a new electronic poll book process during this year's general election in November. The county commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to purchase an ExpressPoll system from Election Systems & Software. The hardware, software and services will cost a combined $271,525, with an additional $27,000 needed for the software license and support over four years. The cost will be covered by grant money. Getting the system will enable the county to replace its sign-in books with electronic tablets at all of its polling locations. 'It's going to make it more efficient for our poll workers,' Commissioner Irv Kimmel Jr. said during a telephone interview after the meeting. The county still needs to purchase the poll pads and then prepare them for use, so Tina Pritts, Somerset County's director of voter registration and elections, does not expect them to be ready in time for the May 20 primary. But when they are in use, Pritts thinks the tablets will help the voting process in multiple ways, she said. 'I think it will benefit the poll workers as far as even locating voters in the book,' Pritts said during a telephone conversation. 'And voters who aren't in the book, the forms that are in the book that sometimes the voters need to complete, everything will be right there in the poll pad. 'One other benefit will be that we will be uploading all the information from the entire county on each poll pad. Only the voters from that precinct will be able to sign and vote. But if a voter goes to the incorrect precinct, their information will be there too and each poll worker can direct them to the correct precinct, which should cut down on some phone calls into our office on Election Day.'
