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Races for mayor, State Senate draw voters in Scranton

Despite the special election for State Senate, turnout was low across Lackawanna County

SCRANTON, Pa. — At polling places across the city of Scranton, there weren't any lines Tuesday like we saw in November.

This primary election seems to be all about the die-hard voter.

"We haven't missed; no matter what it is, we vote every election," said Marlene Meyer of Scranton.

Voters who spoke with Newswatch 16 said they were reminded when they showed up just how much there was to vote for.

"You still have to go through the gauntlet every time!" David Meyer added.

Scranton's mayor is up for re-election and in a contested Democratic primary.

The Electric City is also part of the 22nd State Senate District, which has a special election for a new state senator.

RELATED: Candidates cast votes in special election

Still, polling places were slow throughout the day.

"More people are here for people who are running than voting, so hopefully that changes later, and hopefully more people will come out to vote," said voter Nicholas Pfohl of Scranton.

The candidates and voters alike were hopeful that would change.

"Mayor and state senate were the big ones. But it's Election Day; I always like to come out on Election Day because that's our job as citizens," Pfohl added.

It was slow at the polls, but it was busy at the Lackawanna County Government Center in Scranton, where county employees were counting mail-in ballots.

The lobby of the Government Center was transformed into election central Tuesday morning.

"We have a great team in place, it went very smoothly for the Presidential election, and it's going smoothly today," said Director of Elections Beth Hopkins.

Workers started early removing mail-in ballots from envelopes, preparing them for counting later in the day.

Lackawanna County had some 40,000 mail-in votes in November. This time, there were only around 12,000.

"I think we'll be done relatively early tonight, counting the mail-in and absentee ballots. And then it will just be the judges of elections to come back with their results and combining the two totals and uploading the results to our website for all the candidates," Hopkins added.

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