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11/3/2009 3:32 AM

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By Cara Host, Staff writer, chost@observer-reporter.com

This article has been read 781 times.

WAYNESBURG - Voters have few high profile races to entice them to the polls today, but they will have to make plenty of decisions on a variety of local and state contests.

"It's not about excitement. Voting is a matter of responsibility," said Frances Pratt, Greene County director of elections.

School directors, municipal officials and boards of elections are among the local races to be decided. Voters will also elect several state judges - one to the Supreme Court, four to Superior Court and two to Commonwealth Court.

Pratt declined to predict turnout, but she noted that while there are not many hotly contested races, the people elected today will make decisions that will directly affect people's lives. The elected officials will set tax rates, hire teachers and choose which roads to pave.

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Many of the local races were decided in the spring, since some candidates ran unopposed and won both parties' nominations. However, races remain in three out of the five Greene County school districts and in several municipalities.

For county offices, candidates will have no opposition and Sheriff Richard C. Ketchem, Coroner Gregory P. Rohanna and jury commissioners Lynn Leathers and Rosalind B. Laur should cruise to victory.

In each township, voters will elect at least one supervisor and in each borough, a mayor and at least two council members will be elected. Races for auditor, tax collector, constable, local boards of election and other municipal offices will also appear on the ballot.

"All the races are important. This year we will elect judges and inspectors of elections to four-year terms. These offices are very important because without them you would not be able to exercise your right to vote," Pratt said.

Four school board members will be elected in all school districts. In Carmichaels Area School District, five candidates, Fred Clark Jr., Richard Krause, Jason Voithofer, Dean Swaney and Peter Shlosky, will vie for the four seats.

In Jefferson-Morgan, five people, Debbie Phillips, Bob Mitchell, John W. Shaffer III, Mark Pochron, John Cantoni, will appear on the ballot.

Voters in Southeastern Greene will see six names, Ed "J.K." Kamenos, Janet Pennington, Leonard Novak, Sam Cossick, Ginny Eberhart and Don Humbert.

West Greene and Central Greene will have no contested races since candidates there won both parties' nominations.

The county elections office received 197 absentee ballots. Some of those ballots may have been incomplete, since a printing error may have omitted the back side of the first page.

Absentee voters will be contacted and can receive a replacement page that they can use to complete their ballot. Those voters will have to return that page to the elections office by Nov. 23.

The 44 polling places in Greene County will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. today.

Election results will be posted on the county's Web site, www.co.greene.pa.us/elections.

Related articles:

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1 comments

turn out : 11/3/2009
I was pleased to find myself standing in line and waiting for my turn to vote this morning. usually there are only a couple folks in front of me, but this morning, it was a nice line. very pleasing to see folks out voting.

a mom

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