The Northampton County registrar's office held a public session to cast lots on Nov. 4, 2025, resolving tied or multi-winner outcomes for municipal offices across boroughs and townships. Registrar Chris Comenia opened the proceedings, explained the process and staff read each office and its candidates aloud before conducting random draws using numbered balls.

Why it mattered: Many local offices ' judges of election, auditors and inspectors of election ' had outcomes that could not be resolved by vote totals alone or required allocation between majority and minority inspector positions. Pennsylvania practice allows the random draw method in public when ballots produce ties or when multiple winners must be assigned by lot. The public draws give a transparent, immediate resolution ahead of certificate mailing and any subsequent municipal acceptance or decline.

What happened: An election official read each contest by township or ward, asked whether candidates were present and either allowed candidates to draw their own numbered ball or assigned a draw conducted by staff. The lowest number drawn determined the winner in each contest. For example, in the township of Allen the official announced Matthew Ahn as the tax collector winner after the draw. In Bethlehem City Ward 1 North Joseph Swenson was declared judge of election; across Bangor Ward 3 Kevin Lilly was declared majority inspector and Vincent Caruso minority inspector. The session continued through dozens of wards and boroughs; the final draws were completed in Wilson and Windgap/Wingap boroughs.

Outcomes and next steps: Officials announced winners for each read contest immediately after the draw. Some individuals who won by lot must follow the standard municipal process to accept or decline the position; the registrar noted that municipalities will receive formal notice and that a candidate who declines will be handled according to local rules. The registrar's office closed the session after completing the last draw and thanked attendees.

Transcript notes and name variant: The transcript alternately lists the registrar's name as "Chris Comenia" and "Chris Comenity." The transcript also records an unnamed election official who read and administered the draws; where the record does not identify a speaker by full name, this article attributes comments to "the registrar" or "an election official" to match the transcript evidence.

The registrar's office said the draws were conducted publicly to resolve tie and allocation questions for the Nov. 4, 2025 ballot and will be followed by usual post-election certification processes at the municipal level.