A beautiful day for voting in Elk County
ELK COUNTY - After a rainy weekend and overcast skies on Monday, Voters enjoyed nearly perfect weather for the Elk County Primary Election on Tuesday.
From James City to Benezette, and all stops in-between, polling stations opened up at 7 a.m. on Tuesday and will only close at 8 p.m. for the 2022 Primary.
For volunteers working the locations, it’s generally an enjoyable day, with lots of snack food and treats brought in at each location, meals planned or delivered to other sites, and special election goodies at certain polling stations, like Harriet
Stahli’s famous fudge at the Johnsonburg fourth precinct location on Main Street in the Paper City.
Voter turnout varied greatly across communities, with Fox Township’s
two precincts at the Community Center up over 90 voters each by 10 a.m, while some precincts in Johnsonburg had not reached even 40 voters by noon,
Pennsylvania holds a “closed-primary” election, meaning voters must be registered as either a Republican or Democrat to vote on candidates specific to their party affiliation. These mid-term primary elections are seen by political watchers as a sort of report card for the sitting United States President and will be seen as an indicator of voters’ preferences before the General Election on November 8, 2022.
Pennsylvanians have some significant contests on the ballot, from choosing a new Governor and Lieutenant Governor to a very competitive US Senate Electron to replace the retiring Senator Toomey and to vote for the US House Representative
position held by incumbent G.T. Thompson.
When you are at the polling locations, make sure to thank the poll workers for their efforts on this very long day. From opening up at 7 a.m. until designated precinct captains deliver the electronic cards and paper ballots to Ridgway after the polls close at 8 p.m., their efforts make sure that voters’ voices are heard every year.
Anyone interested in becoming a poll worker should contact the Elk County Elections Office next week, once the primary is certified, at 814-776-5337. Training for the November Election will usually begin in September or October.