Election category, Page 118

Westmoreland County officials Monday confirmed the resignation of the elections bureau director, a move that comes as preparations continue for the presidential general election just three months away. Commissioner Doug Chew said Beth Lechman last week notified county leaders of her decision to exit the job she has held since...

WASHINGTON — It’s getting late early. President Donald Trump is privately reassuring Republicans anxious about his deficits to Democrat Joe Biden, noting there are three months until Election Day and reminding them of the late-breaking events that propelled his 2016 comeback. But four years later, the dynamics are very different....

DETROIT — Despite fears that the coronavirus pandemic will worsen, Victor Gibson said he’s not planning to take advantage of Michigan’s expanded vote-by-mail system when he casts his ballot in November. The retired teacher from Detroit just isn’t sure he can trust it. Many Black Americans share similar concerns and...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Republicans once dominated voting by mail in Florida. But that was before President Donald Trump got involved. After months of hearing Trump denigrate mail-in balloting, Republicans in the critical battleground state now find themselves far behind Democrats in the perennial push to urge their voters to cast...

WASHINGTON — Deep-pocketed and often anonymous donors are pouring over $100 million into an intensifying dispute about whether it should be easier to vote by mail, a fight that could determine President Donald Trump’s fate in the November election. In the battleground of Wisconsin, cash-strapped cities have received $6.3 million...

WASHINGTON — After a presidential primary season plagued by long lines, confusion over mail-in voting and malfunctioning equipment, election experts are increasingly concerned about the resiliency of American democracy in the face of a global pandemic. With four months until the presidential election, the litany of unresolved issues could block...

JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi just ditched its Confederate-themed state flag. Later this year, the state’s voters will decide whether to dump a statewide election process that dates to the Jim Crow era. Facing pressure from a lawsuit and the possibility of action from a federal judge, legislators are putting a...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. —The U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision Thursday blocked a lower court ruling allowing curbside voting in Alabama and waiving some absentee ballot requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conservative justices granted Alabama’s request to stay a federal judge’s order that would allow local officials to offer curbside...

HARRISBURG — President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, the national Republican Party and four Western Pennsylvania members of Congress sued Monday to force changes to how the state collects and counts mail-in ballots under revamped rules. The federal lawsuit filed in Pittsburgh claims that as voters jumped to make use of...

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is sharpening his focus on his most ardent base of supporters as concern grows inside his campaign that his standing in the battleground states that will decide the 2020 election is slipping. Trump turned his attention this week to “left wing mobs” toppling Confederate monuments...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California could allow college admissions and government contracting decisions with a focus on race and gender diversity under a measure placed on the November ballot Wednesday, a decision that would reverse strict limits imposed by voters in 1996. The ballot measure, which won final approval from the...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Voters rebuffed President Donald Trump and nominated two Republicans he opposed to House seats from North Carolina and Kentucky on Tuesday. Calls in higher-profile races in Kentucky and New York faced days of delay as swamped officials count mountains of mail-in ballots. In western North Carolina, GOP...

Hand-counting of more than 1,200 provisional primary ballots cast should be completed Wednesday, according to the Westmoreland Elections Bureau. “We expect about 75% will be counted and accepted,” director Beth Lechman said. Provisional ballots were used at the polls in the June 2 primary by voters who were not eligible...

WASHINGTON — Joe Biden has formally clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, setting him up for a bruising challenge to President Donald Trump that will play out against the unprecedented backdrop of a pandemic, economic collapse and civil unrest. “It was an honor to compete alongside one of the most talented...

WASHINGTON — After primaries and caucuses in 42 states and the District of Columbia, Joe Biden has won the last few delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination for president as states worked to tally a surge of mail ballots. Indiana, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island were among the seven states,...

ORLANDO, Fla. — A man running for election supervisor in Pinellas County is asking the Orange-Osceola state attorney to pursue charges against Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing George Floyd, alleging he voted illegally in two Florida elections. Dan Helm, a Democrat and attorney, sent Orange-Osceola...

HARRISBURG — Counting an avalanche of 1.4 million mail-in votes dragged into a third day in Pennsylvania on Thursday as some races from Tuesday’s primary remained too close to call. The Associated Press has not yet called a number of races where the contest was close or had a large...

As the counting of absentee primary ballots continued Wednesday, Westmoreland County officials said a plan to improve the speed of reporting election results is a top priority before the November general election. More than 40,000 mail-in ballots were received this spring for an election with no contested races during a...

Below are preliminary election results from contested races in the state, region and county during the June 2, 2020 primary: STATE Auditor General Democrats (with 91.04% of precincts reporting): Michael Lamb, Pittsburgh’s Mt. Washington: 33.7% Nina Ahmad, Philadelphia: 28.5% Christina Hartman, Lancaster County: 12.6% H. Scott Conklin, Centre County: 9.7%...

Pittsburgh attorney Emily Kinkead led incumbent state Rep. Adam Ravenstahl early Wednesday in a Democratic primary race for state House, according to unofficial election returns. As of 6 a.m., Kinkead had collected 53% of the votes counted, while Ravenstahl had 47%, the unofficial tallies showed. Allegheny County officials were continuing...

Penn Hills School Board President Erin Vecchio appeared to come up short in her bid to oust longtime state Rep. Tony DeLuca, according to unofficial election returns. It was the second attempt by Vecchio, 61, to toss DeLuca, 83, from the office he’s held nearly four decades. He defeated her...

DES MOINES, Iowa — Republicans in northwest Iowa ousted Rep. Steve King in Tuesday’s primary, deciding they’ve had enough of the conservative lightning rod known for making incendiary comments about immigrants and white supremacy throughout his nearly two decades in Congress. The nine-term congressman, shunned by his party leadership in...

Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb was leading by more than 34,000 votes in a six-way Democratic primary race for Pennsylvania auditor general Wednesday morning, a race that remained too close to call around midnight Tuesday. With about 91% of Pennsylvania’s voting districts reporting, Lamb had collected about 33% of the votes...