The Blair County Board of Elections won’t have to deal with a hotly contested local or regional race in Tuesday’s voting.
Unlike this year’s spring primary when Republican Congressman Bill Shuster had to contend with a strong challenge from Tipton native Michael DelGrosso, the Blair County ballot in the general election on Tuesday is sans a race with such compelling local interest.
Instead, all eyes are sure to be on the presidential election between George W. Bush and John F. Kerry. Various polls show a close race for Pennsylvania’s 21 Electoral College votes. Kerry is expected to do well in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas with the President expecting a strong showing in the more rural and central parts of the state.
A heavy voter turnout is expected both locally and nationally.
“I just think we are going to have a very large turnout,” said Shirley Crowl, Blair County Director of Elections. “Hopefully, the voters can be patient if they have to wait in line.”
This morning, the Associated Press reported (national) voter turnout is likely to be higher than in recent presidential elections, especially among young voters, in a very close race, weekend polls suggest.
More than eight in 10 registered voters in the Pew poll, 84 percent, describe this election as especially important, compared with 67 percent in 2000 and 61 percent in 1996.
Pew pollster Andrew Kohut said the poll suggests turnout could be as high or slightly higher than in 1992, when it was more than 55 percent of those eligible to vote — based on his analysis of voter enthusiasm.
Crowl offered some suggestions to assist voters to make sure they won’t be shut out at the voting booth.
“If a voter has changed polling places or if you are a new registered voter, you need to bring some form of identification with you because you’ll be required to show some form of ID.”
Crowl also explained what a voter should do if they have moved since the early October deadline for submitting a change of address.
“They will need to vote in their previous location, then they can change their address there,” said Crowl. “They will fill out a change of address form. We will get that in our office and change that to the appropriate location.”
Crowl explained punch card ballots are used in Blair County and she offered some suggestions to help insure a voter’s ballot is properly counted. Problems with punch cards in Florida among other issues led to a court-contested 2000 presidential election.
“We have been doing what we normally do, we have never had a problem with our punch cards,” explained Crowl. “Just follow the directions, punch the punch clear through and whenever you take your card out, just make sure you slide your fingers down the back of it to make sure there is nothing loose on the back.”
Crowl also wanted to alert voters to a couple of polling place changes in the northern Blair area. In Antis Township, district 1 voters will now cast ballots at the Tipton Methodist Church on Tipton Road. Those who had voted in previous elections in Antis district 1 had cast ballots at the Tipton Fire Hall. In Tyrone Borough, Ward 1 voters will now vote at the District Justice building on Old Route 220. Voters in Tyrone Ward 1 had previously voted at the Tyrone Masonic Hall.
The polls suggest the race is very close nationally with some polls showing President Bush and Democratic Sen. John Kerry even and another showing Bush slightly ahead.
The AP reported Bush has a slight edge at 48 percent and Kerry at 45 percent in a Pew Research Center poll, while several national polls released this weekend showed the race even. New polls show Bush and Kerry knotted in key states like Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota and New Hampshire.
Bush had more intense support from his backers than Kerry, though both get the backing of about nine in 10 in their own parties.
The poll suggested the two candidates are running about even among early voters.
The Pew poll of 2,408 registered voters and 1,925 likely voters was taken Oct. 27-Oct. 30 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Tuesday in Pennsylvania. Questions about where you should vote or other election questions can be answered the Blair County Board of Elections at 693-3287 or by the Blair County Voter Registration office at 693-3150.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
