Published: November 04, 2009 01:20 am      

Hot races drive turnout

JOHNSTOWN — The old adage that “All politics is local’’ was borne out by voter turnout records Tuesday.

In the Ebensburg West precinct, for instance, nearly half of the electorate – 414 of the 874 people registered – voted, according to Judy Illig, the precinct’s judge of elections.

That turnout, which may be considered strong for an off-year election, was powered by races to replace longtime Mayor Charles Moyer and for Central Cambria school board, as well as county judge. The school board has been wrangling for years about new construction.

Overall, turnout was running much lower at about 33 percent in Cambria.

Somerset County was seeing much the same.

“I think the turnout today was low, because that’s what my poll workers are telling me,’’ said Tina Pritts, election supervisor in Somerset County. “There are not very many races that are pulling the voters out.’’

The headline race statewide was selecting either Democrat Jack Panella or Republican Joan Orie Melvin for the state Supreme Court. The anemic turnout seemed to favor the GOP, which traditionally is more adept at turning out its supporters.

In heavily Democratic Cambria County, for instance, with 154 of 165 precincts reporting, Panella had a bare advantage over Melvin, 12,438 to 11,956.

Pritts said early on she was aware of no glitches in her county.

In Cambria, though, an error was discovered around 8 a.m. Election Day in the display of three candidates’ nominations for Westmont Borough Council on the electronic voting screens at five of the six Westmont precincts.

Voters found the screens showed that three candidates - Lee E. Williamson, Jane E. Gleason and Frank Bononno - who had won both Democratic and Republican nominations for council - only as Democratic candidates.

Fred R. Smith, Cambria County election supervisor, said that despite the incorrect display, the computerized system - which had programmed the three as both Democratic and GOP candidates – was recording any straight Republican ticket votes for the three.

Absentee ballots correctly listed both nominations for the three.

The local election boards in the five precincts alerted voters and posted paper displays on the security wings of each electronic voting booth listing all five candidates and their party nominations, Smith said.

All votes are being correctly recorded and counted, he said.

Westmont voters were selecting four winners out of the five candidates, including Democrat Kevin Schrock and Republican Don Hall II.