Luzerne County could have to pay for Wyoming County special election

Luzerne County may end up paying for a special election in one Wyoming County municipality because Luzerne County’s Election Bureau did not notify Wyoming County of two candidates that were supposed to appear on the ballot and one that was supposed to be removed due to withdrawal, officials said.

The error impacts Exeter Township in Wyoming County, which has 479 registered voters, said Wyoming County Election Director Florence Kellett.

Kellett said she wants to make sure the public knows Wyoming County was not at fault. She learned of the matter when one of the two active candidates contacted her to find out why his name did not appear on that county’s ballot.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo and county Election Director Eryn Harvey confirmed the notification error, and Crocamo said Luzerne County will have to fund a special election if one is deemed necessary.

Luzerne County’s ballot correctly listed both candidates for the single seat —Independents Philip Campenni and Erica Gazda. It also appropriately did not list candidate Nick DeAngelo, who won both Republican and Democrat primary election nominations but later withdrew from the race.

Wyoming County’s ballot for Exeter Township listed DeAngelo as the lone contender.

Kellett said the last communication she received from Luzerne County is that DeAngelo should be listed as the candidate under both parties. She said she was never informed that he withdrew or that Campenni and Gazda filed nomination petitions after the primary to appear on the ballot as Independents.

Independents cannot appear on the primary ballot. Third party candidates had to file nomination papers by Aug. 1 to run in the general election.

Crocamo said she did not know if a special election would be needed if the vote gap between the two Independent contenders ends up exceeding the number of voters who actually cast ballots in the Wyoming County municipality.

Exeter Township in Luzerne County also falls in the Wyoming Area School District along with the boroughs of Exeter, West Pittston, West Wyoming and Wyoming.

Campenni resides in the Luzerne County Exeter Township and said he learned of the error when a supporter from the same-named municipality in Wyoming County informed him he was unable to vote for Campenni because his name was not on his ballot.

An incumbent school board member, Campenni said he is wrapping up his four-year term and chose to run for the two-year seat.

Campenni said a special election should be held for the Wyoming County municipality to “make it right.”

“Everybody’s human. People make mistakes. We just have to deal with it,” he said.

Gazda said she learned about the omission at 3 p.m. on Election Day and, like Campenni, is prepared to take steps necessary to seek a special election. Gazda said she went through the work of obtaining signatures to appear on the ballot before the deadline, and all eligible voters should have an opportunity to decide the race.

“There are people who didn’t get a chance to vote for us,” Gazda said. “Errors happen. Let’s get it corrected.”

Going forward, Crocamo said she already had decided Luzerne County will personally meet with other counties to ensure all candidates are correct in “split districts” that include municipalities outside Luzerne County.

Last week, Carbon County officials discovered two Hazleton Area School Board candidates were missing from mail ballots sent to 62 voters in two municipalities — Beaver Meadows borough and Banks Township. New mail ballots were issued to impacted voters, and the omission was corrected on ballots at polling places.

In that case, Crocamo said Luzerne County’s Election Bureau was not at fault because it had issued an official communication to Carbon County stating the correct candidates and followed up with a phone contact to verify that Carbon’s election office had all needed information.

“When school board races are on the ballot that involve other counties, we’re going to meet in person to share and exchange information to prevent any of these types of issues,” Crocamo said.

In 2013, a special election had to be held in Carbon and Schuylkill counties after Luzerne County failed to notify the two other counties that Steve Hahn had withdrawn from the Hazleton Area School Board primary election race. His name erroneously appeared on the ballot in the two other counties.