Only 26 percent cast ballots in Greene
Many Greene County voters apparently felt that the Tuesday general election was uneventful, as low voter turnouts were reported across the county. Unofficially, it was reported that 6,764 of the county’s 25,287 registered voters – or 26.75 percent – cast their ballots at the county’s 44 polling places. The Tuesday election consisted mostly of races for various school board seats and municipal offices, but no hotly contested races such as the U.S. presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain and the battle between state Rep. Bill DeWeese and challenger Greg Hopkins, both which were on the ballot in 2008.
The Tuesday election results were similar to the May primary, where a total of 6,924 ballots were cast. The numbers, however, pale in comparison to the 2008 general election, where the voter turnout was 16,475 – more than 60 percent – of the county’s registered voters.
The Tuesday election featured three county office positions where candidates faced no opposition. Sheriff Richard C. Ketchem, Coroner Gregory P. Rohanna and Jury Commissioners Lynn Leathers and Rosalind B. Laur ran unopposed.
The ballot also featured races for school board seats in three of the county’s five school districts.
According to the unofficial results, five candidates ran for four open seats in the Carmichaels Area School District. As of Wednesday, the top four vote-getters were Jason Voithofer (796 votes), Richard Krause (765), Dean Swaney (727) and Peter Shlosky (570).
Five candidates were on the ballot for four seats in the Jefferson-Morgan School District as well. Top vote-getters were Mark Pochron (876 votes), Debbie Phillips (873), Bob Mitchell (828) and John Shaffer III (771).
In the Southeastern Greene School District, six candidates ran for four school board seats. The unofficial winners were Janet Pennington (603 votes), Leonard Novak (531), Sam Cossick (527) and Ed Kamenos (511).
The other two county school districts, Central Greene and West Greene, had candidates that ran unopposed for school board seats.
Voters were also asked to vote for at least one supervisor in each township, and a mayor and at least two council members in each borough.
There were also races for auditor, constable, election officers and tax collector in various voting precincts.
The ballot also asked voters to cast ballots for state judicial races, including Supreme Court, Superior Court and Commonwealth Court seats.
All of the unofficial results of Tuesday’s election can be found on the county’s website, www.co.greene.pa.us.
Frances Pratt, county elections director, said Wednesday that no problems were reported by voters using the county’s touch screen iVotronic voting system at the polling places.
The county has been using the iVotronic system since the 2006 Primary Election.
The iVotronic machines are similar to the UniLect electronic system that the county had used since 1998 before they were decertified in 2005 by the Pa. Department of State.
The first of the county’s 44 precincts to report Tuesday was Waynesburg Borough 2, and the last precinct to report was Monongahela Township I, which reported at approximately 9:37 p.m.
Pratt commended the “efficiency” of the elections office and the district boards, who she said were very well-prepared for the election, which resulted “in a very smoothly run” election.
“Everybody worked wonderfully together for an efficient election,” she said.