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Candidates for the new county body pick for spots on the May 17 primary ballot.
Election Bureau Director Leonard Piazza sets up the ballot drawing. Behind him are employees Andrea Hill and Marian Morris.
PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER
Rob Wallace draws a numbered ball from a bucket held by Luzerne County Election Bureau Director Leonard Piazza on Thursday to determine the May 17 primary ballot placement for county council candidate Rick Morelli.
PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER
Luzerne County Council candidate Eileen Sorokas rushed over to her husband and gave him a hug Thursday after she picked a numbered ball that meant her name would appear first on the May 17 primary election ballot.
Candidates and their representatives squeezed into the county election bureau office to select ballot positions, hoping their picks would land them placement toward the start of the ballot, particularly in the crowded Democratic council race.
Candidates have traditionally believed those listed first have an advantage, though nobody has produced evidence that that’s true.
County Commissioner Stephen A. Urban, who wasn’t present, ended up with the last Democratic ballot slot on the council ballot, number 33, evoking some chuckles from the crowd.
Urban said he doesn’t mind the placement, noting his name was listed last on the county commissioner primary election ballot in 2007.
“People don’t just go in and click the first 11 names. Most people go into the election booth knowing who they’re going to vote for, and they look for the names of their candidates,” Urban said.
Candidate John Adonizio got to pick first because he was the first to file on the Democratic side.
He wished the other candidates luck and reached into a pail held by Election Bureau Director Leonard Piazza, pulling out ball number 16.
“Sweet 16,” Adonizio said.
Candidates James Bobeck and Michael A. Chrobak ended up with slots 31 and 32, which means their names will likely appear on a second page of the electronic voting machines along with Urban’s.
Piazza estimates 30 names will fit on one electronic page of the voting machines, which means voters would be required to scroll to a second screen to view all candidates if the number exceeds that amount.
He said Thursday he will have to review the size of ballot language that must also appear on the screen to determine the exact number that will fit on each screen. The candidates’ municipality of residence will also be listed by their names.
“We’ll do whatever we can to make it easier for voters. We’ll listen to candidates’ input, but at the end of the day, the hardware and software have technical limitations,” Piazza said.
Voters won’t miss the names of second-page candidates because they must hit the “next” button to advance through the ballot and cast their votes, Piazza said.
If voters have already picked 11 candidates and decide they want to choose someone on the second screen, the machine will alert them they they’ve already picked the allowable number. Voters must then hit the “back” button and touch the names they want to deselect before returning to the second page.
The November ballot will likely spill onto a second page in the county council race because it will contain the names of 11 Democrats, 11 Republicans and Independent and third-party contenders who secure nearly 1,000 petitions after the primary.
Two third-party candidates have already announced they will be running in November – Tim Mullen, a Libertarian, and Charles “Bible Buck” Hatchko, of the American Independent Party.
The ballot positions
Democrats: Eileen Sorokas, Mario J. Fiorucci Jr., Wil Toole, Edward A. Brominski, Harry W. Skene, Linda McClosky Houck, Bruce J. Simpson, Wayne Wolfe, John T. Nadolny, Michelle Bednar, M. Theresa Morcavage, Jane Walsh-Waitkus, Stanley Knick Jr., Thomas W. Ksiezopolski, Thomas Mark Rome, John Adonizio, Tim McGinley, Salvatore Licata, Thomas Rovinski, Fred Stuccio, Elaine Maddon Curry, Casey Evans, John Livingston, Brian K. Overman, Robert G. Webb, Michael S. Giamber, Joseph M. Padavan, Michael McGlynn, Frank Sorokach, Michael G. Collins, James Bobeck, Michael A. Chrobak and Stephen A. Urban.
Republicans: Moderno “Butch” Rossi, Gina Nevenglosky, Linda J. Urban, William “Bill” James, Harry Haas, William McIntosh, John Ruckno, Joyce Dombroski-Gebhardt, Stephen J. Urban, Michael Cabell, Rick Morelli, Edward Warkevicz, Kathleen M. Dobash, Joseph A. Gorko, Blythe H. Evans III and Eugene Kelleher