Wilkes-Barre Record headline Nov. 4, 1925
Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Elections of yester-years triumphs the recent election paper shortage and wrong mail ballots being sent out to certain Wilkes-Barre wards.
The 1925 General Election actually had violence at precincts across Luzerne County.
As soon as the polls opened at 7 a.m. on Nov. 3, 1925, the two telephones in the office of Sheriff Remmell Labar rang non-stop from precincts reporting problems and fights.
“The election yesterday was considered the most exciting and disorderly in the history of the county,” the Wilkes-Barre Record reported Nov. 4, 1925.
The sheriff’s office inside the Luzerne County Courthouse was besieged with calls for assistance in quelling disturbances, fights and scuffles.
“Most of the trouble was due to strenuous municipal fights and partisans of the various candidates hung about the polls all day adding to the crowds arguing and interfering with the election officers and voters, purposely delaying the vote in many districts,” the Record reported.
Certain election officers at precincts in boroughs and townships demanded voters show tax receipts to prove they pay taxes in their respective municipalities before being permitted to vote.
The overwhelming need for help forced Labar to call state policemen for assistance to provide protection at precincts. As the complaints continued to flood the sheriff’s office with no response, judges began to receive phone calls from election officers.
The Record reported several precincts that reported problems on Nov. 3, 1925.
Edwardsville, Fourth and Sixth wards, dispute over allowing people to vote.
West Wyoming, Tenth Ward, dispute among election officers over the right of certain people to vote.
Miner’s Mills, Second Ward, voters denied to vote without tax receipts.
Plymouth, Sixth Ward, polling place remained closed at 8:45 a.m.
Larksville, Second Ward, fight among election officers and voters.
Hanover Township, Sixth Ward, Askam: Riot.
The Record reported just a fraction of issues at precincts throughout Luzerne County.
“The sheriff had 30 paid deputies on duty and was assisted by a score of state policemen. The latter was used mostly in Pittston where fights broke out,” the Record reported.
The day after the election, the courthouse was filled to capacity with politicians, candidates, voters and election officers counting returns.
Sixty ballot boxes across the county, including all 14 from Pittston, were seized by the sheriff’s office. The 14 Pittston ballot boxes were locked in a judge’s chamber on the third floor of the courthouse to prevent further tampering, reported the Evening News on Nov. 5, 1925.
When the Pittston ballots were counted in a courtroom, it was announced William H. Gillespie won the mayoral campaign by 34 votes over P.R. Brown.
The Pittston ballots were recounted a second time under the command of a judge.
When Gillespie was announced the winner, an impromptu parade formed in Pittston.
“With several hundred men and women lined up to form the parade, some individual turned in a false fire alarm from box 45 at North Main and Dock streets,” the Evening News reported.
As the parade was about to start, another false fire alarm was turned in from a fire box at the Alpine Mill on Tompkins Street.
