Municipalities must comply with the Lucerne County deadline for submitting primary ballot information.

While the majority responded, the Lucerne County electoral office is still awaiting required notification from 14 municipalities and one school district about which offices should be on the May 16 primary ballot, county election manager Emily Cooke said Monday.

The Bureau sent out a letter to all municipalities and school districts on January 11 directing them to submit offices and deadlines by today.

As of Monday, a day before the application deadline, the Northwest School District and the following municipalities had not yet responded, Cooke said: Hazleton, Nanticock, Harvis Lake, Jeddo, Larksville, New Columbus, Pringle, Sugar Notch , Western Wyoming and the towns of Black Creek, Franklin, Hanover, Hollenbuck, and Slocum.

Meeting deadlines is essential as the electoral bureau tries to get the ballot ready as early as possible and step up verification to prevent ballot errors found in the last busy year of municipal elections, 2021, the bureau said.

Cook emphasized that government agencies can submit their forms electronically to [email protected] and contact the bureau at that email address if they need an online form.

The Bureau has begun posting information about upcoming primary elections on the luzernecounty.org election page.

Today is the first day primary candidates can distribute and petition.

March 7 is the deadline for filing the petition.

Director of Elections

Erin Harvey began work Friday as the new district director of elections.

A 28-year-old resident of Wilkes-Barre, Harvey served as deputy director of elections for approximately a year, resigning in February 2022 to run for state representative.

In recent days, District Elections Commissioner Denise Williams has questioned whether Harvey is allowed to have a campaign committee while serving as election director, asking if this is a possible conflict of interest.

County Solicitor Harry W. Skene thanked Williams for her report and said the matter was a personnel matter that would be handled internally if necessary.

It is possible that Harvey will actively seek the state ethics commission’s advisory opinion, a move taken by county councilors and other officials when ethical questions arise.

Harvey for Harrisburg’s latest annual report, which was due January 31, shows Harvey has $34,696.40 left in the campaign fund. However, the campaign subsequently paid for campaign-related costs totaling $33,652, leaving approximately $1,000 left, according to a campaign spokesperson.

Republican Harvey last year ran for state representative in the 121st legislative district. She received 7,437 votes in the November 8 general election, while incumbent Democrat Eddie Day Paszynski won another term with 8,877 votes. show results.

Electoral Commissioner Alyssa Fusaro said she couldn’t understand how Harvey could have had a conflict when the district attorney’s office concluded that Associate Director of Elections Beth McBride was allowed to hold the position while remaining on the Wilkes-Barre City Council.

Contact Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or tweet @TLJenLearnAndes.