Local

2026 election will decide party committees, state, federal positions

Pennsylvania’s primary election is coming. March 11 was the last day for any candidates to register for nomination for various political positions by the Republicans and the Democrats.

Voter registration
Voting booths are set up at a polling place in Newtown, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Pennsylvania’s primary election is coming. March 11 was the last day for any candidates to register for nomination for various political positions by the Republicans and the Democrats.

In Somerset County, voters will elect their party committee members, and the Republicans will also vote for their committee chairman, along with state and federal representatives.

The actual registration numbers for Somerset County are 10,520 Democrats and 32,824 Republicans, according to Tina Pritts.

“There hasn’t been an increase in new registrations yet. It is still the average of the usual numbers that would come in for a primary,” she said. “So far, we have received 2,576 absentee/mail-in ballot applications.”

The elections office plans to start sending the ballots out at the end of April, Pritts said.

The last days

May 4 is the last day to register to vote in the primary. May 12 is the last day to apply for a mail-in or civilian absentee ballot. May 18 is the last day for military and overseas ballots, and they must be submitted for delivery no later than 11:59 p.m. on May 18 and received by May 26. May 19 is the general primary and the last day for county boards of elections to receive voted mail-in and civilian absentee ballots by 8 p.m., when the polls close. Polls open at 7 a.m. Nov. 3 is the general election.

Meantime, March 17 is the last day for anyone to file objections to nomination petitions, and March 25 is the last day for candidates to withdraw their nomination petitions. A list of candidates will be published once that deadline has passed.

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Patrick Berkery
Patrick Berkery Senior Newsletter Editor
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