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If the past is anything to judge by, turnout for today's municipal primary will be lower than in a year when national offices are up for a vote.
"It's a municipal primary. If the past is any indication, you generally will see lower turnout in a local election year and in a primary, in particular. But, we can always hope that there will be a better turnout. I always hope that more people will come out," said Forrest Lehman, director of Lycoming County Voter Services.
"You will always see some areas where there is high turnout. If it's the right contest, the right combination of candidates can highly motivate voters in some areas to turn out in large numbers," he said.
Some school board and board of supervisor contests could be very competitive, Lehman said. The hope is that those races don't become contentious.
"Everybody wants people to vote for them. You think that would mean that you would conduct yourself in a way that reflects well on you and your candidacy," he said.
Because there may be opportunities on the ballots to write in your selection, Lehman pointed out that people should be aware that the names of write-ins are not revealed until several days after the election.
"The election night results will include the number of write-in votes cast in a contest, but they will not be able to identify who got them...that takes seven to 10 days after the election for us to canvass write-in votes and be able to announce who write-in nominees are," he explained.
There are also rules about how many write-in votes a person needs to get in order to be a nominee.
"In a primary in order to be the nominee by write-in votes, you have to get at least as many write-ins as you need signatures on a petition," Lehman said.
"So that means if you want to become the Democratic or Republican nominee for a borough office by write-in votes, you've got to get at least 10. You will still have to get the most votes, but if you don't have at least 10...then nobody gets it," Lehmans said.
The polls opened at 7 a.m. today and will close at 8 p.m. After the polls close unofficial Election night results within the county will be available at www.lyco.org/election results.
The unofficial results include all votes cast in person at the county's 81 precincts and most of the votes cast by mail, according to Voter Services.
The official results will be posted on the county website along with a list of the names and vote counts of write-in winners. The winners will also be contacted by mail. This process takes about 10 days.
For some voters, polling places have changed for today's election.
Long term changes are:
• Clinton Township, Clinton Township Volunteer Fire Company, 2311 Route 54
• Cummings Township, Cummings Township Building, 11119 N. Route 44
• Montgomery Borough, Clinton Township Volunteer Fire Company, 2311 Route 54
Temporary polling place changes for the May Primary and the November election are:
• Loyalsock Township 7th precinct, Saint Ann Catholic Church, 1305 Northway Road
• Pine Township, Pine Township Building, 925 Oregon Hill Road
According to Voter Services, signs will be posted at the old and new polling places.
At a Board of Elections meeting this week, the slate of county employees who will be helping with the election was approved.
"It's a huge project and so you have some employees who are reporting to voter services who will be helping on phones, working as rovers who report out to precinct with issues. We also have county employees who will be upstairs at Third Street Plaza helping to pre-canvass all the mail ballots," Lehman said. Some employees will also be assisting with the election night operation as the precincts come back with their votes.
In all, he estimated that there are over 100 county employees who help with the election in some way.
The board also approved petitioning the Court of Common Pleas to combine the 1st and 2nd precincts in Muncy Borough and to designate First United Methodist Church, 602 Market St., as the polling place for the borough. The change is contingent upon court approval and would not go in effect until possibly the November election.
The county is currently examining polling sites to determine Americans with Disabilities Act compliance in response to a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Due to his candidacy in the primary, commissioner Scott Metzger's place on the Election Board was filled by Lycoming County Judge Ryan Tira. Commissioners Rick Mirabito and Tony Mussare also sit on the board. Mussare attended the meeting by phone in the event of a tie vote.