Election day

• A full list of results will be published in The Sentinel after the election is certified.

LEWISTOWN — Election Day in Mifflin County went off without any hitches — technical difficulties — according to county election officials.

“It went well, really well,” said Paula Hoffman, Mifflin County director of elections, of processing. “There were no hiccups or anything.”

There weren’t any surprises with voter turnout either, as 10,593 voters in Mifflin County cast their ballots in Tuesday’s general election out of the 27,000 registered voters. That’s nearly 40%.

“It’s average for what I expected,” Hoffman added. “It’s not a presidential year, so there wasn’t anything real big on the ballot.”

Nearly 22,000 voters cast ballots in 2024.

Hoffman finalized the votes on Friday and submitted them. She expects the votes to become certified within three weeks.

The only question remaining from election night stems from the Mifflin County School Board race where Republican Brent Erb garnered enough votes to earn both a four-year term seat and a two-year term seat.

Mifflin County voters were asked to select four candidates for the four-year term. Republican Mark Baker was the top vote-getter for Mifflin County School District’s Board of Directors. Erb finished second as the next highest vote-getter, taking 6,036 votes.

Voters were also asked to select two candidates for the school directors two-year seat. Erb and Republican R. Brian Ketchem were the top vote-getters for the seat with 5,914 and 5,572. Erb now must pick between the two seats.

“He chooses,” Hoffman said of the process going forward. “After that, it goes to the school board, which chooses to appoint somebody.”

She added that there is often a misconception that the next vote-getter gets the spot; that’s incorrect.

Juniata County

Juniata County Voter Registrar/Election Director Eva Weyrich was pleasantly surprised by the turnout for Tuesday’s general election. There were 6,074 ballots cast from the 14,091 registered voters in the county, or 43% of those registered voted.

“It was better than I expected,” Weyrich said. “I think it was because of the retention question.”

Weyrich was still reviewing ballots and write-in votes. In instances, where a candidate did not run for a vacancy, a write-in candidate could ultimately win the seat.

Pennsylvania’s normally quiet Supreme Court judicial retention questions were one of the most closely watched political races in the country. Voters were asked in straightforward yes or no questions if Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht should be allowed to have second 10-year terms on the high court.

The three Democrats were first elected to the high court in 2015. Over the past decade, they have weighed in on high-profile cases involving reproductive rights, mail-in ballots, COVID-19 mask policies and gerrymandered political districts.