Herald Announces Special Election Section on May 16

The Morrisons Cove Herald will be publishing a special guide to the 2019 Primary Election in the May 16 edition.

The guide will include information about the candidates for local offices. In addition to candidates, there are other matters of Cove-area interest on the May ballot, including alcohol sales questions for Roaring Spring and the Altoona-Blair County Airport.

Candidates for local offices are urged to contact the Herald to provide information about themselves and their positions. The Herald will publish basic information about each candidate for whom information is received, including a photograph (if provided). All candidate information should be emailed to news@mcheraldonline.com. The candidate questions appear at right on this page.

The deadline for the receipt of all candidate information is 5 p.m. on Friday, May 3.

Submissions of candidate information will be edited fairly and carefully for uniformity and published based on space available.

Candidates also have the opportunity to place advertisements in the Herald to get an unedited message to voters. The Herald has special prices for advertising in the special election section.

Third, the Herald welcomes advertising from local businesses who wish to be associated with and support the democratic process. Businesses interested in advertising should contact the Herald at 793-2144 or advertising@mcheraldonline.com.

The deadline for all candidate information, candidate advertisements and business advertisements in support of democracy is 5 p.m., Friday, May 3.

Any information received by the Herald after that time will not be published. Publisher Allan J. Bassler stated that there will be no exceptions to the deadline for reasons of fairness.

Primary election

Primary elections in Pennsylvania are held on the third Tuesday of May in most years. In presidential years, the primary election is held on the fourth Tuesday of April.

The next primary election is on May 21, 2019. Polls will be open on election day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The last day to register to vote is April 22, 2019. The last day to request an absentee ballot is May 14, 2019.

The next general election is Nov. 5, 2019.

To register to vote or to request an absentee ballot, check with your county’s election office.

Blair County’s office is online at http://www.blairco.org/Dept/Elections. The phone number is (814) 693-3287 and the email address is sseymour​@blairco.org.

Bedford County’s office is online at http://www.bedfordcountypa.org/departments/elections. The phone number is (814) 623-4807. The email address is dbrown@bedfordcountypa.org.

One-stop registration, voter and election information is available at VotesPA.com.

“VotesPA.com is a user-friendly, one-stop voter information and registration site,” Pennsylvania’s Acting Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said. “Pennsylvanians can find their voting district, polling place and county election office on the site as well as register online to vote or update their existing registration.”

Any Pennsylvanian who believes that he or she is already registered to vote can check the registration status at http://www.votespa.com/status.

Primary elections

In a primary election, each political party selects its candidates to run for office during the general election. The candidates who get the highest number of votes in the primary election go on to run in the general election. Voters also vote for their party’s officers during a primary election.

In Pennsylvania, you can only vote for the candidates in the same political party you have named in your voter registration. For example, if you registered to vote as a member of the Republican Party, then you can vote in the Republican primary, but not the Democratic primary.

All voters can vote on constitutional amendments, ballot questions, and any special election contests held at the same time as a primary election. Individuals wishing to register to vote in the May 21 primary must be:

• A citizen of the United States for at least one month before the primary.

• A resident of Pennsylvania and of the election district in which the individual plans to register and vote for at least 30 days before the primary.

• At least 18 years of age on or before the date of the primary.