Elections director predicts low turnout
To the candidates whose names are appearing on the ballot along with an opponent, today’s election is of utmost importance. But the vast majority of registered voters won’t be going to the polls, predicts Larry Spahr, Washington County elections director.
One way to gauge interest in an election is by the number of absentee ballots requested. This year, 716 absentee ballots were sent out and 616 were completed and returned to the Washington County elections office before the Oct. 29 deadline. That means a turnout of about 21 or 22 percent, Spahr projected.
Asked why so many people likely will be shunning the polls, Spahr replied, “If I had a dime for every time I was asked that question, I’d be a millionaire.
“It just seems lackluster. It’s been that way since the primary.”
Turnout may be lackluster, but the sun should be shining on the electorate with a high of 59, according to Accuweather. In election years like the last one, which featured a presidential contest, turnout is between 60 and 70 percent.
In 2011, the last year of predominantly local elections including row offices, voters returned 1,342 absentee ballots. That year, a proposed amendment to the Home Rule Charter of Peters Township that would have banned Marcellus Shale drilling was on the ballot.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Peters, with 21,213 people and therefore the largest municipality in the county, had a 42 percent turnout in 2011, more than double what is typical. Turnout in the rest of the county that year was 31 percent.
After the close of registration Oct. 7, Washington County had 75,344 Democrats, 48,916 Republicans, 687 Libertarians and 14,630 unaffiliated voters and members of other parties. From 2012, the ranks of the Democrats have depleted by 2,615 while there are 338 fewer Republicans.
By order of Commonwealth Court, only those voting for the first time in a precinct will be required to show a document that lists an address, such as a driver’s license, PennDOT ID card, U.S. passport, current utility bill or bank statement. Longtime registered voters are not required to show identification.
Statewide races all involve the judiciary. Republican Victor P. Stabile is trying for a Superior Court seat against Democrat Jack McVay Jr. Two state Supreme Court justices, Max Baer of Pittsburgh and Ronald D. Castille of Philadelphia, chief justice, are running for retention, as are Superior Court judges Susan Peikes Gantman of Narberth and Jack A. Panella of Easton.
The race for two Washington County judgeships was decided in May when both Valarie Costanzo of Cecil Township and Mike Lucas of Carroll Township emerged from a field of eight candidates to capture both nominations on the Republican and Democratic tickets.
All judicial terms, from Common Pleas Court on up, are for 10 years, and salaries range from $173,271 for county court up to $205,415 for Supreme Court chief justice.
There are countywide races for controller and recorder of deeds. Angela Carrier of Peters Township, a Republican, is challenging three-term incumbent Democrat Michael L. Namie of Canton Township for controller, while Nancy A. Carr of Washington, a Republican, is trying to unseat four-term Democrat Debbie Bardella of Speers for recorder.
Samuel F. Romano, a Canton Township Democrat, is running unopposed for his third term as sheriff.
Salary for these offices, all of which have four-year terms, is $73,544.
Three district judges – Larry W. Hopkins of the Charleroi area, David W. Mark of the Canonsburg area and Joshua P. Kanalis of the Centerville area – are running unopposed. The six-year terms pay $86,639 annually.
Voters also will see candidates for school director and local government on the ballot after they’re asked to sign in on Washington County’s first electronic pollbooks.
The preparation of a voter access card was deactivated from the e-pollbook’s function in the waning days of October because the county’s particular series of devices, in concert, hadn’t been approved by the state. Local election board workers will be using an encoding device, just as they have for elections since Washington County voters started using touch-screen machines in 2006.
Polling place changes in Washington County include Monongahela 2-3, where voters should head to Monongahela Elks Lodge 455, 444 Jackson St., instead of the Hilltop Bar; and Cecil 1, where polling will be conducted at Iceoplex in Southpointe rather than the Hendersonville Shops, and the Elco Civic Center rather than the municipal building.