Luzerne County Democratic Party plans court action to place three candidates on Nov. 4 ballot

Luzerne County’s Democratic Party plans to file a court action attempting to force the county to add three candidates to the Nov. 4 general election ballot, county Democratic Chairman Thomas Shubilla said Monday.

The matter developed Friday afternoon, when Shubilla sent the county Election Board an email requesting to place three candidates on the ballot, saying the party has a right to nominate candidates to the seats due to the deaths of the prior office holders.

The party’s nominees and the seats, which would all be two-year terms: Rose Mary Frati, of Pittston, city treasurer; Anthony Guariglia, of Pittston, city council; and Joseph Timothy Cotter, of Dupont, Pittston Area School Board.

“I understand that this request is beyond the submission deadline but believe there are extenuating circumstances due to the deaths of those who held the offices previously,” Shubilla wrote.

He informed the board of the potential for legal action if the request was not granted and asked the election bureau to “refrain from printing any ballots related to these three positions until this matter is resolved.”

County Election Board Chairwoman Christine Boyle sent Shubilla an email Monday indicating the board met in executive session at 10 a.m. that morning to discuss the matter. The board approved the Nov. 4 election ballot at its Sept. 17 meeting and “declines to take any further action,” Boyle’s email said.

Shubilla responded to Boyle asking for reconsideration, saying the state election code “does not give a date on ballot replacement and simply states anytime before printing.”

County Assistant Solicitor Gene Molino, who represents the election board, replied to Shubilla with a reference to the applicable statute.

”The deadline, which you acknowledged in your email on Friday, is at least fifty (50) days prior to a municipal election,” Molino wrote. “There will be no reconsideration by the board.”

Separate from these written communications, Molino said the county Democratic and Republican parties would have been required to submit nominations to the county one week ago, or by Sept. 15, to meet the 5o-day deadline that he said is a requirement.

Because neither party acted on that option before the deadline, Molino said the two Pittston city seats and Pittston Area School Board seat appear on the Nov. 4 ballot with no listed candidates, which means the seats would be filled through write-in selections. Both the school district and city fulfilled their obligations to inform the county the seats were vacant so they appear on the ballot, he said.

Molino noted the county Democratic Party had submitted a nominee in July for another seat vacated by a death, for Plains Township commissioner, and that candidate will appear on the ballot.

Shubilla said Monday afternoon he was “disappointed in the board” that it would not reopen or revisit the case. The party believes “there is not a clear timeframe according to the law” because the county has not yet printed ballots and incurred cost, he said.

“I don’t see what the problem is. They want to be overly difficult about it,” Shubilla said. “We are going to let the court decide. I was hoping that it could be resolved today.”

Shubilla said he personally learned about the nominations for the three seats Wednesday evening and swiftly acted with the Friday communication to the county.

Before this issue was on the radar, county Election Director Emily Cook told the election board at its Sept. 17 meeting that any ballot changes would force the bureau to redo ballot proofing and other work based on the way the current voting system is designed.

The subject of ballot changes came up Sept. 17 because the board was contemplating altering a Nov. 4 election referendum to amend the Pittston home rule charter. Board members agreed the referendum could be made more clear for voters, but a majority opted to keep the question as submitted so the bureau would not have to redo proofing.

Cook said such ballot alterations won’t significantly set the bureau back if the county switches to a new voting system from Hart InterCivic in 2026 — a change county council is set to vote on Tuesday.

Regarding ballot printing, Cook also had said she was aiming to start sending mail ballots to the outside printing vendor by the end of this week as part of her effort to get them in the hands of voters as early as possible.