Candidate signs at State and 2nd streets in Harrisburg
Although candidate participation was high for this year’s municipal primary, participation from voters at the polls on Tuesday morning was relatively slow.
Volunteers at a few polling locations in Midtown, Camp Curtin and Allison Hill said that fewer than 50 people had come through by 10:30 a.m.
It’s no surprise that lines weren’t as long as they were for the 2020 presidential election. Local elections often draw a much smaller crowd, explained Dauphin County Director of Elections and Voter Registration Gerald Feaser during a tour of the new elections office in April.
In past municipal primary elections, Dauphin County only had about 35,000 people vote, a small fraction of the county’s population, Feaser said.
However, mail-in voting has shot up this year, due to the pandemic. As of Tuesday morning, the county reported that it had received 12,711 ballots by mail.
Some of those ballots contain votes for Harrisburg mayoral candidates, as well as those seeking a seat on City Council and school board.
Five Democrats—Wanda Williams, Otto Banks, Dave Schankweiler, Kevyn Knox and Eric Papenfuse, the incumbent—are competing for the nomination for the city’s top position. Only one Republican candidate, Timothy Rowbottom, is running to be that party’s standard bearer for mayor.
For council, 13 Democrats are vying for four seats, while no Republicans are running. Nine Democratic hopefuls are on the ballot for a spot on the Harrisburg School District’s board. One candidate cross-filed for both party nominations.
At the Susquehanna Art Museum, a Midtown polling place, resident Candice Sullivan cast her vote as she does every election, she said. However, this one held significance that hit close to home.
For her, the hot issue was education, she explained as her young son waited by her side. Sullivan was specifically focused on voting for school board candidates who would make a difference in the district her son attends.
“We need to see a change in the educational system in Harrisburg,” she said. “I feel like the education is unacceptable.”
Natalie Burston also was motivated to vote out of frustration with the current leadership in Harrisburg. She said that is looking for change in the mayor’s office and City Council chambers, which, she said, hadn’t done enough to encourage economic growth and police accountability in the city.
While many residents at the polls said that they are regular voters, 19-year-old Evans Lowery IV cast his ballot for the first time at the Hamilton Health Center in Allison Hill. He is also hoping for change in the city he calls home, and personality played a large role in the candidates he chose.
“I’m looking to see change so we can have someone to look up to,” he said.
Voting at the 28 polling locations in Harrisburg will close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
Check back for Tuesday night election results coverage.
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