PENNSYLVANIA Mercer, Lawrence officials expect voter turnout of more than 50%

Mercer's elections director also expects a large turnout in that county.
Marlene Gabriel, the Lawrence County election director, expects more than half the county's registered voters to turn out for Tuesday's primary election.
Gabriel said the number of local races, including school boards and councils, as well as the several countywide races, should bring people out to vote. She said the local races also have spurred an increase in registered voters.
Gabriel said there are 1,400 newly registered voters in the county since the last election. The county has 55,700 registered voters.
Jim Bennington, her counterpart in Mercer County, thinks the numbers will be higher there, reaching 60 percent to 65 percent.
There's a lot of interest, particularly in the county races where voters will be electing two judges and three county commissioners, he said. There are eight judicial candidates and 12 commissioner candidates on the ballot.
Voters have been bombarded with telephone calls and mailed advertisements soliciting support for specific candidates.
There are candidate signs everywhere and a lot of political advertisements in the print and electronic media, Bennington said.
Mercer County has 36,686 registered Democrat and 31,073 registered Republican voters.