Updated unofficial election results released by Luzerne County

Updated unofficial Nov. 7 general election results were posted on Luzerne County’s website Friday evening.

These additional votes came from mail and provisional ballots the county’s five-citizen Election Board accepted during adjudication and include tallies for write-in races

The six winners in the county council race remain the same, according to the results posted on the main page at luzernecounty.org: Democrats Patricia Krushnowski, Jimmy Sabatino, Joanna Bryn Smith and Brittany Stephenson and Republicans Harry Haas and LeeAnn McDermott, an incumbent.

Although those chosen did not change, Krushnowski picked up enough votes to surpass Haas since the initial election night tally, the results show.

The new unofficial tally: McDermott, 28,306; Sabatino, 28,044; Bryn Smith, 27,850; Krushnowski, 26,879; Haas, 26,828; Stephenson, 26,291; Michelle Rothenbecker (D), 25,517; Maryann Velez (D), 24,205; Thomas Dombroski (R), 23,994; Stephen J. Urban (R), 23,961; Matthew Mitchell (R), 23,663; and Kimberly Platek, 23,413.

Incumbent county District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce, who had no opposition, received 48,294 votes to secure a four-year term, according to unofficial results.

In magisterial district judge races, all contenders were unopposed in the general. The winners, their magisterial district and unofficial vote tallies, according to the report: Rick Cronauer (11-1-01), 2,169; Jim Haggerty (11-1-05), 2,731; David Barilla (11-1-06), 3,692; Kyle Halesey (11-2-03), 2,461; Carol A. Davenport (11-3-01), 3,722; Donald L. Whittaker (11-3-02), 3,297; Daniel O’Donnell (11-3-03), 5,194; James M. Dixon (11-3-04), 2,011; Ferris P. Webby (11-3-06), 4,302; and Brian J. Tupper (11-3-09), 7,164.

Write-in

The election board processed approximately 11,000 write-in votes — a process that wrapped up around 3 p.m. Friday with cheers from those participating in the review, officials said.

A write-in tie-breaker process known as the “casting of lots” will be held at noon Wednesday in the adjudication room (301) on the third floor of the county’s Penn Place Building on the corner of Market Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre, said county Election Director Eryn Harvey.

Most, if not all, of the races determined through write-in selections are smaller municipal contests in which no candidates appeared on the ballot, officials said.

Harvey said write-in candidates should check their race in the online results to see if they are impacted by ties.

Write-in winners eventually will be notified with instructions on paperwork that must be filed with the election bureau to take office.

Following past practice, a non-itemized “scattering” category was used for instances when the total number of write-ins was not high enough to secure a nomination in each race, officials said.

Certification

The election board is set to meet Monday morning for the completion of required post-election audits and a reconciliation to ensure the number of ballots processed matches the voter count, Harvey said.

Certification of the final results is scheduled at 1 p.m. Nov. 27 at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, she said.