Luzerne County posts names of council/DA candidates with municipality of residence

As part of a corrective action, Luzerne County has publicly posted the names and municipality of residence for all May 16 primary election candidates in the county council and district attorneys races.

The county learned of the residency omission Thursday from Butler Township political media consultant Jason Holly, who said he spotted it on sample ballots the election bureau had posted online.

However, the discovery came too late to revise the ballots because mail ballots have already been sent, and the ballot printing process is underway for paper ballots that will be used at polling places on Election Day, officials said.

The candidate/residency list, which is now posted on the election page at luzernecounty.org:

• District Attorney

Sam Sanguedolce, Plains Township

The incumbent Republican DA is running unopposed, and there are no Democratic candidates.

• County Council, Democratic candidates

Jimmy Sabatino, Butler Township

Joanna Bryn Smith, Wyoming borough

Brittany Stephenson, Plymouth borough

Maryann Velez, Duryea borough

Patricia Krushnowski, Wilkes-Barre city

Damon Saxon, Wilkes-Barre city

Michelle Rothenbecker, Bear Creek Township

• County Council, Republican candidates

Carl Bienias III, Hanover Township

Stephen J. Urban, Kingston borough

Lee Ann McDermott, Kingston Township

Anthony Corrado, Butler Township

Harry Haas, Kingston borough

Gregory W. Griffin, Swoyersville borough

Ronald D. Knapp, Nanticoke city

Kimberly Platek, Sugarloaf Township

Vivian Kreidler-Licina, Nescopeck Township

Matthew Mitchell, Plains Township

Richard Tihansky, Conyngham borough

Thomas Dombroski, Dallas Township

In the primary, county Democrats and Republicans will each pick six council candidates to advance to the November general election, when voters will be free to pick six of any affiliation.

The election bureau obtained the municipality for each candidate from their nomination petitions and voter registration.

The list is available through a link in an alert identified as an “important update regarding residence of municipality on upcoming primary ballot.”

It informs the public the election bureau continues to monitor the circumstances surrounding the omission of the municipality of residence in the county races.

The election bureau is actively communicating with the county law office and Pennsylvania Department of State on this matter “to ensure that solutions presented for this matter will best inform the voters of Luzerne County,” it said.

“While the plan of action is actively in process, we are ensuring that each polling location will have a list of the affected candidates and their respective municipalities of residence for voters to view while casting their ballots at their polling locations,” it said. “The Bureau of Elections is diligently forming a plan to inform voters receiving mail-in and absentee ballots of this omission.”

In an attempt to more proactively detect errors, the bureau had publicly posted primary election sample ballots on the county website at the end of March.

“While the error went unnoticed by multiple parties who reviewed and signed off on the ballot, bureau leadership is focused on what steps can be taken to mitigate the immediate issue at hand,” the online alert said. “The plans in place ensure that voters will be provided the statutorily required information to cast their ballots in an informed manner.”

The election bureau will continue providing information to the public over the next few days as more information becomes available, it said.