HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County’s total registered voters for Tuesday’s election is slightly higher than a year ago when it climbed to 81,301 in light of the presidential contest between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris.

But while the county has 81,400 registered voters for this election — 99 more than a year ago — turnout is expected to be far less than the 82.32% recorded in November 2024.

Based on Blair County election records, Tuesday’s turnout may come in around 33% to 34% if it mirrors turnout in the 2021 and 2023 general elections, when judicial, county and municipal seats were on the ballot. For a higher turnout, a review of county election records show it takes a presidential or gubernatorial race.

In November 2022, when Democratic candidate Josh Shapiro had no trouble winning the governor’s seat over Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano, Blair County had a 64.75% turnout from its 78,252 registered voters.

Who’s on the ballot?

Tuesday’s ballot includes judicial candidates for the state’s Supreme, Superior and Commonwealth courts, including those seeking office for the first time and asking to be retained for another 10 years.

The retention question — for Supreme Court judges Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht — has ignited controversy throughout the state between political bodies and advocacy groups, including efforts that generated mailed postcards to local voters telling them to vote “no.”

Both the Blair County Republican and Democratic parties have weighed in on the controversy through website postings, with Republicans asking for “no” votes and Democrats asking for “yes” votes.

Blair County Republican Party Chairman Matt Zupon said the party’s position is a reflection of the court’s 2018 redrawing of congressional districts and its 2020 rulings upholding then Gov. Tom Wolf’s COVID-19 orders.

Blair County Democratic Party Chairman Gillian Kratzer named this contest as one of the reasons voters should head to the polls.

“It’s an incredibly important race, as it’s going to decide if we have a functioning Supreme Court for the next two years,” she said.

If Donohue, Dougherty and Wecht aren’t retained, the seven-member bench recognized with a 5-2 leftward lean will become a bench of four judges with a 2-2 split.

If that happens, Shapiro could appoint interim judges to fill seats through 2027 when new judges would be elected, with two-thirds approval from the state Senate. But filling vacant judicial seats is a task that Shapiro and the Senate have been unable to accomplish in many jurisdictions across the state, including Blair County that’s been operating one or two judges short since 2023.

In the May primary, the voters took a step toward curing the shortage by selecting state Rep. Lou Schmitt, R-Altoona, and Magisterial District Judge Paula Aigner of Hollidaysburg to be the unopposed common pleas court judicial candidates on Tuesday’s ballot. Based on that action, they’re scheduled to be sworn into office on the five-seat bench, effective in January.

One more judicial race

The ballot also contains a contest for the magisterial district judge seat serving Tyrone and surrounding areas in northern Blair County.

Candidates Suzanne Bigelow-Cherry, an attorney, and Kevin Stoltz, a UPS driver and military veteran, are vying for the seat held for years by the late Fred B. Miller, who was elected in 2024 to the county bench and died later that year.

For the primary, Bigelow-Cherry and Stoltz cross-filed so they were on the Republican and Democratic ballots. Tuesday’s election reflects Stoltz’s success on the Republican ticket and Bigelow-Cherry’s success on the Democratic ticket.

Municipal leaders, school board races

Voters will also select local leaders for council, borough, township and school board positions. Some races are contested and others aren’t.

Zupon said he’s encouraging people to vote in these contests.

“Your local elections, for council, school board, those are for the people going to make decisions with the most effect on your life, so I would suggest that voters turn out and cast ballots for them,” Zupon said.

Polling locations, mail-in ballots

Blair County has 93 voting precincts, all opening at 7 a.m. and remaining open until 8 p.m.

Locations for those precincts, as posted on the county’s website at www.blairco.org and as printed in Friday’s Altoona Mirror, remain unchanged from the primary, Director of Elections Sarah Seymour said.

The county also received applications from 8,323 registered voters seeking mail-in ballots. As of a week ago, Seymour said 5,474 were returned.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.