By Maddie Greves
There is a primary election on May 18th, in Pennsylvania. While it is not a Presidential or Senate primary, it’s just as important. In a primary, you can only vote for someone who is registered as the same party you are. On the ballot, this time for the entire state, are candidates for the PA Commonwealth Court, Superior Court, Supreme Court.
What is the difference between all of these courts?
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is the highest in the state and focuses on cases that are final rulings on cases appealed from lower courts. The Superior Court focuses on cases that are appeals from criminal, family, and civil cases handled by county courts of common pleas. The Commonwealth Court focuses on civil disputes involving the state and hears appeals against decisions made by state agencies.
In this election, whoever earns the most amount of votes will go into the municipal election on November 2nd. There will be one Democrat and one Republican on the ballot in the November election: These are the candidates for each of the courts..
Candidates of PA Supreme Court
Maria McLaughlin – Democrat
Kevin Brobson – Republican
Paula Patrick – Republican
Patricia McCullough – Republican
Candidates for PA Superior Court
Jill L. Beck – Democrat
Timika R. Lane – Democrat
Bryan S. Neft – Democrat
Megan Sullivan – Republican
Candidates for PA Commonwealth Court
Andrew Crompton – Republican (incumbent)
Stacy Wallace – Republican
Lori Dumas – Democrat
Sierra Street – Democrat
Amanda Green-Hawkins – Democrat
David Spurgeon – Democrat
Questions
There are four yes or no questions on the ballot. The first question is should the governor no longer have the power to keep a disaster declaration in place and instead the majority party be given the power to end it. The second question is should the limit to a disaster declaration be 21 days. The third question is whether the state constitution should specifically prohibit the denial of equal rights based on race or ethnicity. The fourth question asks should municipal fire departments or companies with paid personnel be allowed to apply for a loan through an existing state-run program for volunteer companies.
Polls will open at 7:00 AM and will stop letting people in at 8:00 PM or send in your mail in ballot by May 18th.
Sources
https://ballotpedia.org/Pennsylvania_Commonwealth_Court
https://whyy.org/articles/a-voter-guide-to-pennsylvanias-2021-judicial-elections/
Photo
https://www.votespa.com/About-Elections/Pages/Upcoming-Elections.aspx