Running for County Committee

In Pennsylvania a voting district is called a precinct.  A precinct usually has between a 100 and a 1000 voters.  Carbon County has 51 precincts.  (I’m pretty sure that’s the number.)

Each precinct in Pennsylvania is entitled to elect one Committeeman and one Committeewoman in the primary election when parties choose their gubernatorial candidates.  These committee members make up the County Committee.  The Committee meets after the election to pick the County Chair and other officers of the County Party.  Committee members are also expected to register voters, help elect Democrats, and build the party.

I am one of Carbon County’s Committeemen, and I will be running again on May 20.  Here is how easy it is.  You get a nomination petition from the County Registrar of Voters on February 18.  (Or I can send you one.)  You then get the signatures of 10 Democrats in your precinct.  You have to be careful here, since your friends, who don’t want to disappoint you may say they are Democrats and sign your petition, but then you find out they aren’t registered. 

I have a list of registered Democrats in every precinct in Carbon County.  After you gather your signatures, call me at 610-377-0235, and we will make sure that all of your signatures are valid.  You need to do that by March 11.  Then you go to the Prothonotary’s office and have your petition notarized.  You take the notarized petition to the Registrar, and you will be on the ballot.

This procedure is the same for all Pennsylvania counties.  If you live in Illinois or Belgium or somewhere else outside of the Keystone state, I can’t help you.  If you live in a Pennsylvania county other than Carbon, I don’t have those lists, but I urge you to run.