A court is set to rule on the day before Election Day in a dispute over how two Nazareth Area School Board candidates who cross-filed are listed on Tuesday’s general election ballot.
Northampton County President Judge Craig Dally heard arguments Friday over ballot-positioning raised by the two candidates, Linda Stubits and Wendy Whiteash. Stubits and Whiteash, who are listed as Republicans and Democrats and won in the spring primary under both parties, told Dally that Tuesday’s in-person ballots list them on the Democratic side but not the Republican side.
Dally said he would issue a ruling, but it had not been filed as of 5 p.m. Monday.
On Northampton County’s mail-in ballot, the names of the political parties appear under the candidate’s name, not opposite their name. The order in which the parties appear (Democratic/Republican) assumes that all the candidates are listed under the race together.
But on the voting machine ballot, Stubits’ and Whiteash’s names appear only under the Democratic column. Other cross-filed candidates’ names also appear that way on the machine ballots.
Scott Hough, vice chair of the Northampton County Election Commission, said in a largely municipal election, in which turnout is typically low, “a couple of votes can make a difference in a race.” He cited a 2021 Lehigh County judge race that amounted to a five-vote difference.
He also said many voters who choose candidates strictly by party might not carefully look at the ballot to search for someone who has cross-filed. A hard-core Republican might only vote for one candidate listed as a Republican and fail to see a candidate who ran on both tickets, according to Hough.
In municipal races, particularly those for school board and district justices, it is not unusual for candidates to cross-file. Several other cross-filers appear on the ballot.
Hough and the five commission members sought last week to have an emergency meeting over the issue, but the administration refused, he said. He and Commissioner Julia Geissinger sought Monday to see a hard copy of a mail-in ballot but were refused by election registrar Christopher Commini, Hough said. He told the commissioners they would need “permission” without elaborating, and that he was not in authority to make a decision, according to Hough.
The county Election Commission is made up of five residents appointed to serve by the executive and are authorized to administer elections, a process that includes certifying election results.
County spokesperson Jessica Berger said she would respond Monday to questions she requested be emailed after the court’s order.
Candidates on general election ballots in Pennsylvania are listed based on which party received the most votes in the last gubernatorial election, according to the code. Because Gov. Josh Shapiro is a Democrat, Democratic candidates in each race are listed first this year.
Mail-in ballot mistake
In another voting issue, 48 voters in one ward for Easton District 2, where a contested City Council race involves Republican Sharbel Koorie and Democrat Julie Zando-Dennis, received mail-in ballots for District 3, where Democrat Susan Hartranft-Bittinger is running unopposed for Council.
Northampton County elections officials notified affected residents, according to a county statement. If a voter already returned an incorrect ballot, a corrected ballot can be filled out, with the first ballot canceled. Election officials plan to segregate the mail-in ballots from the 8th Ward East to check for any discrepancies before being counted.
Hough said the county never provided the election commission with copies of the sample Election Day ballots.
“If there are voters in Northampton County that knew three Democrats and two Republicans on the election commission requested a meeting and were denied, I think there would be upset people on both parties,” Hough said. “This is not a party issue. This is a fairness issue.”
“Why isn’t the commission being notified when the issues are coming up? We’re finding out from voters and candidates.”
The county’s elections operations have come under scrutiny before. In November 2023, printed results given to some voters did not match their choices for the retention of two state Superior Court judges. The problem was with the printout of the votes, according to county officials and its voting machine supplier, ES&S.
The same machines malfunctioned in 2019, when they lost thousands of digital votes due to an error with the ballot. The results were only salvaged because paper ballots recorded the missing votes.
And in 2024, voters in several precincts experienced waits as long as six hours to cast ballots, in part due to machine malfunctions.
Contact Morning Call reporter Anthony Salamone at asalamone@mcall.com.