Lackawanna County voters casting ballots in Tuesday\u2019s election will help shape the future of their county and municipal governments, school boards and judiciary at the state and local levels.<\/p>\n
With local races and several judicial retention questions on the ballot, here\u2019s everything voters should know as they exercise their democratic right:<\/p>\n
At the polls<\/p>\n
Election day polls open Tuesday at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m., but voters still waiting in line at 8 p.m. have a right to cast their ballots.<\/p>\n
Those who plan to vote in person will check in at their polling place and be given a paper ballot to mark and scan.<\/p>\n
Only first-time voters or those voting for the first time at a new precinct will have to show identification. Approved forms of identification include a Pennsylvania driver\u2019s license or ID issued by the state Department of Transportation, IDs issued by any other state agency or by the federal government, a U.S. passport or armed forces ID, or a student or employee ID.<\/p>\n
Anyone who experiences issues at the polls should call the county elections department at 570-963-6737 without delay.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t wait until the next day to call us,\u201d county elections Director Beth Hopkins said. \u201cWe can usually rectify any situation immediately. We can send a rover, we can send a sheriff, we can get the judge of election on the phone. \u2026 Don\u2019t wait until (you\u2019ve) already left the polling place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drop-box voting<\/p>\n
Only one mail-in ballot drop box, the drop box located at the county government center in downtown Scranton, is available on election day. Other drop boxes the county placed in Carbondale, Clarks Summit, Dickson City, Moosic and Roaring Brook Twp. have already been removed.<\/p>\n
Voters can access the government center drop box until 8 p.m., when the polls close.\u00a0All mail-in ballots must be received by the county elections department by that time.<\/p>\n
Those who prefer not to use the drop box can also hand-deliver their completed mail-in ballot to the county elections department until 8 p.m. The department\u2019s office is located on the second floor of the government center, 123 Wyoming Ave. Scranton.<\/p>\n
By law, voters may only return their own ballot, regardless of whether they use the drop box or choose to deliver it to the elections department by hand.<\/p>\n
Special elections<\/p>\n
Lackawanna County ballots will feature two special elections to fill unexpired terms for the offices of county commissioner and county clerk of judicial records, respectively.<\/p>\n
Those offices did not appear on primary election ballots in May, as the county Board of Elections voted to declare the commissioner special election in late August and the clerk of judicial records special election in early September.<\/p>\n
The unexpired terms for both positions run into early January 2028.<\/p>\n
Two-sided ballot<\/p>\n
Voters are reminded to flip their ballots over and vote both sides.<\/p>\n
While different municipalities and school districts feature different races, the backside of every ballot will at least feature several judicial retention questions where voters can vote \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d to retain individual state Supreme Court, Superior Court and Commonwealth Court judges. They can also vote \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d on the question of whether to retain county Common Pleas Court Judge Andy Jarbola for an additional 10-year judicial term.<\/p>\n
Where to vote<\/p>\n
A list of polling places, sample ballots and other election-related information is available online at lackawannacounty.org by clicking the \u201cElections & Voter Registration<\/a>\u201d link under the government tab at the top of the website.<\/p>\n