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BRADFORD COUNTY — Bradford County residents exercised their right to vote last Tuesday, June 2, in the 2020 primary election.
This year, the election was postponed a couple of weeks due to COVID-19. It was originally planned for the second Tuesday in May.
Out of the 36,324 registered voters in Bradford County, 11,328 voted, including mail-in votes.
Results - Democratic
For the presidential primary, Bernie Sanders had a total of 483 votes, Joe Biden had 2,126, Tulsi Gabbard had 116. There were 197 write-in votes.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro received 2,548 votes total. There were 34 write-in votes.
Christina Hartman received 584 votes for Auditor General.
Joe Torsella received 2,466 for State Treasurer.
Lee Griffin received 2,451 votes for Representative in Congress 12 Congressional District.
Jackie Baker received 2,518 votes for Senator in the General Assembly 23rd.
Nanci Rommel, Keith Bierly, Rick Thomas and Kimberly Hart received the winning votes for Delegate Democratic 12th.
For the presidential primary, Donald Trump won Bradford County with 7,335 votes.
For Attorney General, Healther Heidelbaugh had 7,035 votes.
For Auditor General, Timothy Defoor had 6,869 votes.
State Treasurer Stacy L. Garrity received 7,658 votes. Ther was 36 write-ins.
Representative in Congress 12th Congressional District Fred Keller received 7,366 votes. There were 64 write-ins.
Senator Gene Yaw received 7,452 votes.
Representative in the General Assembly 68th Clint Owlett received 2,335 votes, with 5 write-ins.
Representative in the General Assembly 110th Tina Pickett received 5,416 votes. There were 81 write-ins.
Tina Pickett lead in the Delegate Republican 12th race with 7,056 votes. Krystle Bristol saw 3,476 votes.
Jason Krise won the republican vote for LeRoy Township, with 126 votes.
Vernon Perry won the Republican vote for Monroe Township with 141 votes.
Renee Smithkors, Director for the Bradford County Election Bureau says that due to COVID-19 the poll numbers may have been down from previous years.
Mail-in votes increased due to COVID and Gov. Wolf allowing mail-in voting for that reason.
Smithkors acknowleged the possibility for voter fraud, but said that she and her team were doing what they can to combat that issue.
“Once a person applies a Mail-In or an Absentee Ballot, we confirm they are in fact a registered voter within the County. Then, their date of birth, social security and (or) their driver’s license is confirmed and their ballot is issued,” she said. “Once they were issued a Mail-In or Absentee Ballot, they were no longer eligible to vote at the polls unless it was on a Provisional Ballot. All Provisional Ballots were reviewed and those approved will be counted during the Official Count.”
Smithkors says that the counting of mail-in votes and absentees prolonged the release of the election night results.
She said her workers also were protected while working the polls this year.
“We provided table top sneeze guards for all polling locations along with screen wipes, gloves, masks and disinfecting items. In addition, hand sanitizer was placed at the entrance of the polling location,” she said.