FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
DATE: October 3, 2021
CONTACT: Liz Forrest - 570-828-7030
LWV PIKE COUNTY PUBLISHES VOTER GUIDE
BUT CANCELS ONLINE FORUMS FOR DVSD BOARD AND MILFORD BORO MAYOR
Milford, PA, October 3, 2021 – The League of Women Voters of Pike County has published its 2021 Municipal Election Voter Guide. The Guide contains unedited information received from Pike County supervisor, mayoral, council and school director candidates in contested races on the ballot in November. The Guide also includes the information for the Pennsylvania Judicial races, information about individual offices, compensations, terms and the number of candidates the voter may choose in each race, polling locations and links to sample ballots to be used in each municipality. The Guide can be found on the Home page of their website at www.lwvpike.org, as well astheir Facebook page at Facebook/LWVPikePA.
The revamped website is a wealth of information for new voters and homeowners looking for local news resources, elected representatives and official online resources to register to vote or request a mail-in ballot. Visitors can sign up for their mailing list or to join the local League.
LWV Pike Has Released the Following Statement Regarding the Canceled 10/3 Candidate Forums
On Sunday, October 3, LWV Pike canceled two candidate forums that had been announced in September. The primary reason for doing so was lack of candidate participation. Our organization is constrained from holding “Empty Seat” forums due to policies and guidelines set forth by our parent organizations, LWV US and LWV PA.
We cancelled the Milford Borough Mayoral forum because only one of the two candidates replied to our invitation.
We cancelled the Delaware Valley School District forum for similar reasons. School board races are considered non-partisan, because candidates from one political party can “cross-file” to run in the spring primary of the party where they are not registered.Usually this results in candidates winning spots to represent both parties in the general election. However, for the first time in anyone’s memory, no candidate was successful in both primaries. This resulted in a full slate of Democratic candidates and a full slate of Republican candidates with no overlaps, making it a partisan race.
Unfortunately, only Democratic candidates in this race accepted our invitation to participate in the forum or submitted Voter Guide materials. We received no response from anyone on the Republican ballot. Since this placed us in the position of holding what could be considered an “Empty Chair” forum, we chose to cancel.
Our local League board and membership is composed of registered voters of both major parties as well as individuals who are non-aligned. Because our League members are also part of the Pike County community, we take local elections seriously. Elected leaders at the county, township, borough, and school district levels have a significant impact on taxes and local law. County, township and school taxes account for thousands of dollars paid annually by our households. Earned Income Taxes are also levied by boards in specific Pike municipalities. We respect the voters in our community, and we have deep respect for individuals who have the courage to put themselves forward to become public servants. We believe that voters should have an opportunity prior to an election to hear from candidates in a non-partisan, non-intimidating setting to gain information that will inform them about who would serve them best. We believe that giving candidates a chance to articulate their ideas and visions is part of the responsibility that we owe to them and that they owe to us as voters. We are deeply disappointed that the lack of participation by candidates has denied this opportunity to our community.