May 18, 2021 3 min read

There are a litany of competitive municipal and magisterial district judge races on the ballot in today’s primary in Washington and Greene counties, but most eyes will be on the open seats for a new judge in each county.

The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. today for in-person voting, but unlike last November’s presidential election where postmarked mail-in ballots were accepted for several days after Election Day, those votes now must be delivered to their county elections office by 8 p.m. to count.

In Washington County, cross-filed candidates Joyce Hatfield-Wise and Jesse Pettit are competing for both the Democratic and Republicans nominations to replace Senior Judge Katherine Emery, who retired as full-time president judge in January.

In Greene County, Jeff Grimes and Kimberly Pratt are running for both the Democratic and Republican nominations to replace former judge Farley Toothman, who resigned after being accused last year of judicial misconduct.

In both judicial races, if one candidate wins both nominations, that person will effectively win election to the bench and could be appointed to the seat before the general election in November. If the two candidates split the nomination, there will a rematch in the fall.

Washington County plans to count the nearly 10,000 mail-in ballots today so they will be included in tonight’s election total. But Greene County elections officials typically wait until Wednesday to begin counting their absentee and mail-in votes, meaning it could take longer to declare a winner since those estimated 2,000 ballots might sway the election if the race is close.

It will be difficult to predict turnout today with this being the first off-year election with the availability of no-excuse mail-in voting that was widely used last year in the midst of the pandemic. Turnout in Washington County for the 2019 primary was about 25%, and that election featured races for county commission and several row offices.

Moreover, while voters who are registered independents or not affiliated with any party typically can’t participate in primary elections, they can in this one because of several statewide referendum questions on the ballot.

Three questions will ask voters to consider amendments to the state Constitution.

The first proposed amendment would prohibit the denial of an individual’s rights under Pennsylvania law because of their race or ethnicity. The second question, which has proven to be more controversial, asks whether the governor’s authority should be constrained when it comes to emergency declarations, prompting it to end automatically after 21 days. A subsequent amendment would give the Legislature the power to terminate or extend a disaster declaration without the governor’s approval.

The fourth question involves a referendum that would allow municipal fire companies to request the same types of loans that volunteer fire companies across Pennsylvania use.