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Lawrence County elections board hears proposal to fold former South Newcastle into Shenango Precinct 3
Summary
At a public hearing the Lawrence County Board of Elections reviewed a proposal to merge the former borough of South Newcastle into Shenango Township Precinct 3. Officials said the combined precinct would have about 1,088 registered voters, fall within Pennsylvania's legal thresholds, and the board plans to petition the Court of Common Pleas next week.
The Lawrence County Board of Elections on Tuesday took public testimony on a proposal to incorporate the former borough of South Newcastle into Shenango Township Precinct 3, a change the board said it will ask a court to approve.
Chair Dan Vogler told attendees the borough "legally ceased to exist, effective January 1," and that the board's role is to gather testimony and then decide whether to petition the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas to finalize precinct boundaries. The board will reconvene Jan. 20 to vote on filing that petition.
The proposal presented by Director of Elections Tim Germani would add South Newcastle's roughly 442 registered voters to Shenango 3, which Germani said has 646 registered electors, producing a combined total of 1,088. "That puts it squarely within the bounds of the PA election code," Germani said, referencing the code's minimum and maximum precinct thresholds.
Chenango Township Manager Al Buric testified that township supervisors back Germani's map. "They do support Mr. Germani's map proposal of 1 precinct. I think it works best that way," Buric said, adding that population in the affected area clusters toward the city and that folding the borough into Shenango 3 would align the new precinct with other Shenango precinct sizes.
Board members and staff discussed two options: creating a standalone precinct for the former borough or merging it into Shenango 3. Staff said population figures and existing municipal boundaries limited the practical choices. Germani and the solicitor said the board does not itself make the final legal determination; if the board votes to petition the court, a judge in Common Pleas will consider the evidence and may hold a hearing.
If the court approves a reconfiguration, the board will then set polling locations. The solicitor said, when he files the petition, he will seek a preliminary order establishing a hearing date and then post notice of that hearing in five public locations, including the current South Newcastle polling site and the Shenango Township municipal building.
The board stressed it was not taking a vote at the hearing; instead, members said they would incorporate written comments and testimony into the petition and act at the Jan. 20 meeting. "We're going to reconvene next Tuesday, January 20, at 11 a.m., and it will be open to the public," Vogler said. "It will probably be somewhat of a formality."
