Here’s how many Centre County voters participated in the primary election — by mail or in person
Despite a pandemic and few contested races, Tuesday’s primary election had a 36% voter turnout in Centre County — just 1% lower than the 2016 general primary.
Unofficial results were released Friday after Centre County elections office staff spent four days scanning more than 19,000 mail-in ballots.
Rescheduled due to COVID-19, Tuesday’s primary marked the first election where voters could vote by mail in Pennsylvania without needing to qualify for an absentee ballot. The county elections office sent out 22,070 absentee and mail-in ballots and received 19,114 back from voters. According to county data, 13,678 Democrats voted by mail, and 5,436 Republicans cast their vote by mail.
Out of 89,121 eligible registered Centre County voters, 32,399 total ballots were cast in the election — with 13,285 people voting in person.
With 98% of precincts reporting statewide, unofficial results show that state Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Rush Township, did not secure enough votes to become the Democratic nominee for auditor general, though he took the most votes in the race in his home county. Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb was leading the six-way race as of Friday evening, though it is too close to call. Dauphin County Controller Timothy DeFoor ran unopposed on the Republican ticket.
Conklin is unopposed for his seat in the House for the 77th Legislative District.
Former vice president Joe Biden won the Democratic race for president, while President Donald Trump won on the Republican side. Biden received 12,496 votes in Centre County, with 4,261 Democrats voting for Bernie Sanders. A total of 12,127 Centre County Republicans voted for Trump.
All other races on the ballot, including the 12th and 15th congressional districts and seats for state representatives, were uncontested.
This story was originally published June 6, 2020 at 7:30 AM.
