Hand-counting of more than 1,200 provisional primary ballots cast should be completed Wednesday, according to the Westmoreland Elections Bureau.

“We expect about 75% will be counted and accepted,” director Beth Lechman said.

Provisional ballots were used at the polls in the June 2 primary by voters who were not eligible to use the touch-screen voting machines at the county’s 307 precincts. In many cases, those voters had requested but did not return mail-in ballots, Lechman said.

In past years, the county used a staff of four workers to tally several hundred provisional ballots cast on Election Day. An expanded staff of eight workers originally was tabbed for that work this spring, but the large volume of provisional ballots required an additional 10 counters to be assigned to the job earlier this week.

The county’s elections board is scheduled to meet June 17 to confirm write-in votes and pre-certify the primary results from Republican and Democratic ballots, which contained no contested races other than delegates for upcoming national political conventions and spots on the county Republican committee.

Unofficial results, posted on the county’s website, indicate that for president, Republican Donald Trump received 93% of the votes cast in the GOP primary. Former Vice President Joe Biden received 75% of the vote from county Democrats, with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders receiving 15% and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard garnering 5%.

Incumbent Republican John Joyce and Democratic challenger Todd Rowley were unopposed for their party’s nominations in the race for the 13th District Congressional seat. Republican incumbent Guy Reschenthaler and Democrat Bill Marx were unchallenged as candidates for the 14th Congressional District seat.

State Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, will seek to retain her seat against Democrat Tay Waltenbaugh in the district that represents most of Westmoreland County. Both Ward and Waltenbaugh were unopposed in last week’s primary.

Incumbent Democratic state Rep. Joe Petrarca, D-Washington Township, will run against Republican challenger Jason Silvis in November, and incumbent Eric Davanzo, R-Smithton, will have a rematch with Democratic Robert Prah Jr. in a race for the 58th District in the state House. Davanzo defeated Prah in a special election held in March to complete the term left vacant at the start of the year.

Lechman said preliminary tallies indicate three or four write-in candidates might have received enough votes in Democratic primaries where no candidates appeared on the ballot for seats in the state House of Representatives. Those potential winners won’t be announced until next week and will run against unchallenged incumbent state Reps. Bob Brooks, R-Murrysville; George Dunbar, R-Penn Township; Eric Nelson, R-Hempfield; and Mike Reese, R-Mt. Pleasant.

Meanwhile, state elections officials are still tallying results for delegates in this summer’s national political conventions.

The top three vote-getters among the five candidates seeking to serve as delegates from the 10 counties that make up the 13th Congressional District at the Republican convention are Judith F. Ward, with 28% of the vote; Leslie Rossi, with 21%; and Arnold C. McClure, with 18%. The leading candidates to serve as delegates in the 14th Congressional District, which includes voters in Westmoreland, Washington, Greene and Fayette counties, are Reschenthaler, with nearly 27% of the vote; Scott Avolio, with 11%; and Rose Somma Tennent, with 10%.

Tammy Barbin, with 35% of the vote; Sheri A. Morgan, with 18%; and Charles E. Morgan and Bennett P. Geesaman, with 7% each, are leading the race to serve as delegates to the Democratic convention from the 13th Congressional District. Bibiana Boerio, with 22% of the vote; Christian Sesek, with 21%; Nathan Regotti, with 20%; Janice W. Foley, with 9%; and Casey Konopisos and Michael Cordaro, with 7% each, are leading the race to serve as delegates from the 14th District, according to unofficial state results.

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