Across Centre County, voters show up for ‘most important’ primary election
By Halie Kines and
Keely Doll
Centre County Republicans and Democrats went to the polls Tuesday to cast their votes in the general primary election for statewide positions, including governor and Senate.
The polls opened at 7 a.m. and some places, like Penn Township, had a line of voters ready to go. But across the county Tuesday morning, poll workers said, for the most part, voter turnout was in line with past primaries.
As of 4 p.m., no problems had been reported at the polls, Commissioner Michael Pipe said.
Nearly 10,700 Centre County voters requested a mail-in ballot for the primary election. The approximately 8,000 mail-in and absentee ballots that were returned through Monday would be processed by Tuesday evening, Pipe said, and results from those ballots would be ready once the polls close. The approximately 1,000 mail-in and absentee ballots returned Tuesday will be processed Wednesday.
The Halfmoon Christian Fellowship Church during primary elections on Tuesday, May 17, 2022. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com
Poll workers report ‘the usual’
In Penn Township, people were lined up at 7 a.m. “anxious to vote,” Judge of Elections Ryan Shawver said. By around 9:30 a.m., the St. James United Methodist Church had seen 34 voters. Charles Boyer, a former judge of elections, said that was “routine” for a primary. The township has 658 registered voters.
“That’s … routine for primary elections in the countryside here,” Boyer said. “We usually get about a third turnout among primaries but in the presidential elections, that shoots up to like 80% or higher. But if we get a third, we’ll be happy.”
Just before 9 a.m, the Millheim Borough polling location had a total of 26 voters. Judge of Elections Alan Ilgen said that pace was “normal” for a primary.
Millheim Constable Melanie Morrison was at the borough fire hall to oversee the process. At the time, there had been no issues reported.
“It’s been a pretty chill morning, you know, mostly just talking and spending time together. It’s cool to see the process from the inside,” Morrison said.
Many of the poll workers there had been doing this job for years and talked about how things have changed. Donna Shawley has been a Millheim poll worker for 30 years and said the biggest change over time has been the amount of paperwork.
“We have less paperwork to do in the evenings,” Shawley said. “We don’t have to count the ballots, which is amazing because sometimes we were here until 9:30 (p.m.).”
Ilgen explained that years ago, poll workers had to keep track of write-in votes by hand. But now the voting machine is able to scan the write-ins and record them, saving a lot of time, Shawley said.
The Pennsylvania State Constable for Bellefonte, Peter Serefine, was also rotating through the borough’s five polling places throughout the day. A constable is an elected state official who maintains order and keeps the peace at the polls on election day, among other duties. After seeing tensions rise in recent election years, Serefine felt the role of constable was too important to be unfilled.
“That’s why I decided to get myself appointed to the vacancy because elections have been ugly,” Serefine said. “And I suspect they’re going to get uglier before they get better.”
Patricia Valentine, judge of elections in Haines Township, said they had a total of 41 voters by 10:30 a.m. There was one voter who wasn’t a registered Democrat or Republican, and therefore couldn’t vote, and one provisional ballot, but there were no major issues to report, Valentine said.
“It’s just been the usual, except it’s slow,” Valentine said. “I am surprised. It’s slower than I thought it would be.” Typically they do have a line of people ready to vote when the polls open, but they didn’t this time.
Just before 11:30 a.m., Gregg Township had a total of 153 voters and turnout had been steady, Judge of Elections Donald Albertson said. The county originally only gave the polling location two voting booths, Albertson said, and had to bring down another one.
“We’ve had four or five people waiting in line but again, it’s just a small group and then things calmed down,” he said.
Many polls were also training new workers, part of preparing for what some predict will be a contentious election in November. Cynthia Conover, judge of elections in Patton Township, was training two new poll workers as she expects high in-person voter turnout for the general election.
Ferguson Township residents vote in Tuesday’s primary at a polling place at Discovery Space. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com
Voters weigh in
John Ellenberger, of Walker Township, said he votes in every election as part of his duty as a citizen.
“You can’t complain if you don’t vote,” Ellenberger said. “You have to come out and make your choice.”
A sense of civic responsibility wasn’t the only thing driving people to the polls Tuesday morning, as several Centre County residents said current events and political issues helped to cement the importance of voting. Sue Chappell, of Walker Township, said voting for candidates leading up to the general election is vital.
“I would say that people tend to be pretty blase about it until really big issues come up, and we’ve got some really big issues,” Chappell said.
Deborah Flavin, of Patton Township, said this election is vitally important not only for Pennsylvania but for the county as a whole.
“This is probably one of the most important primaries ever,” Flavin said. “Control of the United States Senate is at stake.”
Voters in Port Matilda make their choices in the primary election Tuesday. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com
This story was originally published May 17, 2022 at 4:57 PM.
Keely Doll is an education reporter and service journalist for the Centre Daily Times. She has previously worked for the Columbia Missourian and The Independent UK.
