Deadlines

WILKES-BARRE -The Luzerne County Election Bureau can't issue absentee ballots for the primary election on May 16 until the state Supreme Court rules whether Dallas Mayor Tim Carroll can be on the ballot, said Leonard Piazza, the bureau’s director.
Carroll has appealed a Commonwealth Court ruling bumping him from the ballot as a state House candidate for the 117th District.
"We needed to know two weeks ago," Piazza said. And until the bureau learns the final court decision, it can't program its new ATM-like voting machines, either.

Iraq war vet James May has already been knocked off the ballot and is waging a write-in campaign. The other Republican candidates are Eugene Stavitzski, Michael McCormick, Karen Boback, Randy Tomasacci, Edmund Sichler Jr. and Stanford Davis. The winner will face Democrat Fred Nichols in the fall.

The Luzerne County Election Bureau is busy training all involved on the new machines but can't set the ballot until the court rules. This has the makings of a disaster. The only reason we are dealing with this is because Florida couldn't conduct an election in 2000. We have had many close elections but in the end they were settled by a recount of our long serving lever machines. The obvious solution is to use paper ballots for elections but why do that when you can use a $3000 machine to do the same thing?

If you want to see the beasts before you vote they will be on display at the Wyoming Valley Mall Saturday, . noon to 5 p.m Sunday noon to 5 p.m . Then again from 5 to 9 p.m. May 5, noon to 5 p.m. May 6, and noon to 5 p.m. May 7.