Polling places around the Bradford area resembled ghost towns during Tuesday’s primary election.
A visit to some of the precincts revealed very few individuals, if any, standing around voting machines making their selections, and election workers could be seen sitting around tables passing the time chatting.
Unofficial election results showed that just 3,617 registered voters of 20,369 cast ballots in the election, or 17.76 percent. Broken down, 2,638 Republicans and 979 Democrats voted.
“It’s been pretty dead,” said judge of election Barb Pecora, who said 33 people turned out to the polls as of around 4:30 p.m. at Emery Towers on South Avenue in Bradford.
In Bradford Township, judge of election Virginia Wonsettler she said she believed that people thought they didn’t have many choices on the ballot.
Among races included Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, running unopposed, while state Sen. Scott Wagner, a York County businessman, defeated Republicans Laura Ellsworth, an attorney from the Pittsburgh area, and Paul Mango, a retired health care systems consultant from the Pittsburgh suburbs.
Of those turning out to vote, many were older folks, Wonsettler said.
For judge of election William Moore at the Foster Township municipal building, he said he attributes the lower turnout to apathy, especially among young people. He said that young adults are dissatisfied with the government, thus they are not casting their votes.
As of around 5:40 p.m., 194 people turned out to vote at St. Bernard’s School. Meanwhile, Moore said that about 140 people cast their ballots as of around 5:05 p.m. at East Main Street township building, and he figured the precinct would see less than half the usual primary election voters.
Previous primaries have been as high as 585 people and as low as 89, he said. The average count has been 275 to 300 individuals, Moore said.
That district has close to 1,400 registered voters. The voting participation went downhill 10 years ago, Moore said.
“It’s slow, but it’s the primaries,” Wonsettler said.
Usually the precinct has three voting machines; this time the St. Bernard’s School polling place had two, she said. That district has 2,500 registered voters.
Election worker Grace Bonfilio, who assisted at Emery Towers, said that the polling place saw a mix of voters from both parties –– Republicans and Democrats. In the past, Republicans outnumbered Democratic voters, she said.
Judge of election James Belardia at the Church of the Nazarene on North Bennett Street in Bradford said that day began slow and then the polling place experienced some growth spurts.
A total of 65 people came out to vote as of around 5:30 p.m. Compared to past years, the precinct saw 184 individuals vote in the 2016 primary; 171 in 2015; and 55 in 2014.
All in all, “Everything’s gone smoothly. Everything’s fine,” Pecora said.
