Today is Election Day and there are several judicial, municipal and school board races on the ballot.
One of the races is the Indiana School Board race which has 10 candidates that have cross-filed on both Republican and Democrat ballots. The candidates include three people seeking another term in office: Barb Barker, Julia Trimarchi Cuccaro, and Tom Harley. The other candidates are Jim Shaffer, Sue Reig, Bradley Knapp, Diane Antonacci, Doug Steve, Elizabeth Cook and Justin Reese. Voters are asked to choose up to four of the 10 candidates.
Another race that has garnered attention is the Democrat nomination for Center Township Supervisors, as current supervisor Dave “Butch” Smyers is running against Paul Colgan. There are no nominees listed on the Republican ballot.
There is also a race on the ballot for the Indiana County Court of Common Pleas. Voters are asked to choose one of three candidates: Current District Court Judge Christopher Welch, former county District Attorney Pat Dougherty, and First Assistant District Attorney Gina Ryen Force.
Also on the ballot are four referendum questions, two of which involve disaster declarations.
The first question concerns terminating or extending a disaster declaration beyond its expiration date. Right now, the governor has the right to extend a disaster declaration an indefinite number of times. Governor Wolf has done this during the Covid-19 pandemic. The question on the ballot asks if the General Assembly should be allowed to either end a disaster declaration or extend it by a majority vote in the assembly and without the approval of the governor.
The second question deals with the length of the disaster declaration. Right now, disaster declarations in Pennsylvania can last 90 days. The question asks if the length can be shortened to 21 days before being allowed to expire unless the General Assembly allows it to be extended.
The third question deals with a new state constitutional amendment. It asks if an amendment should be added that states that denying someone their equal rights based on ethnicity and race be declared unconstitutional.
The fourth concerns loans to fire and ambulance services, and would allow fire departments and EMS services that use paid employees to apply for loans in a state program that are normally available to volunteer organizations only.
Polls are open until 8:00 tonight.
