Some candidates are one step closer to joining area school boards; for others it is unclear who will advance due to the high number of write-in votes.
While the specific results for write-in votes were not available Tuesday night, the total number cast in each school district was tallied.
Unofficial results for write-in candidates will be listed on the county website and office of elections and voter registration counter in the Adams County Courthouse by next Wednesday, May 24, according to election officials.
Bermudian Springs School District
The Bermudian Springs School Board had five open seats: two in Region 1; two in Region 2; and one in Region 3.
The race for Region 1 was too close to call due to 324 Republican write-ins and 28 Democratic write-ins. Brian Davis appeared to garner the highest number of Republican votes at 382, while Melissa Ann Pero received 102 Republican votes. Davis received 101 Democratic votes, and Pero had 125 Democratic votes.
Region 2 candidates selected for the general election were Neil Tate with 268 Republican votes and 44 Democratic votes, and Ruth Griffie with 207 Republican votes. Griffie, an incumbent, did not cross-file and was only on the Republican ballot.
The third region had one opening with incumbent Daniel Chubb running unopposed. Chubb, who cross-filed, tallied 546 Republican votes and 194 Democratic votes.
All the openings were for four-year terms.
Conewago Valley School District
In Conewago Valley School District, there were two openings in Region 1, one opening in Region 2, and two openings in Region 3. The race included incumbents Melanie Sauter and Bill Huffman and appointed board member Beth Farnham.
Moving to the fall general election for Region 1 from the Republican ballot are David T. Meckley with 270 Republican votes and Meredith Miller with 259 Republican votes and 103 Democratic votes. The candidates selected from the Democratic ballot appeared to be Sauter with 105 votes and Andrew Sipe with 104 votes.
The top candidates for Region 2 included Lindsay Krug from the Republican ballot with 275 votes and Farnham from the Democratic ballot with 398 votes.
The third region recorded April Swope with 694 Republican votes and 322 Democratic votes, and William Getz with 521 Republican votes and 300 Democratic votes.
Christine Hayes, who received 217 Republican votes, but was unable to appear on the Democratic ballot after eligibility of nomination petition signers was questioned before Adams County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael George. Ten valid signatures are required for school board candidates to be listed on the ballot.
In Fairfield Area School District, five incumbents sought four-year terms for the five at-large seats on the school board. Kelly Christiano, Jennifer Holz, Lauren Kaye Clark, Lisa M. Sturges, and LaShay M. Kalathas cross-filed for the race.
But the race is too close to call with over 1,000 write-ins on Republican ballots and 107 write-ins on Democratic ballots.
Gettysburg Area School District
Gettysburg Area School District also had five openings for four-year terms, but a combined nearly 1,500 write-ins made the race impossible to call Tuesday night.
Incumbents Al Moyer, Michael Dickerson, and Tim Seigman and political newcomers Martha O’Bryant and Cynthia Ayers each obtained over 1,000 votes on Republican ballots. On the Democratic side, Alice Broadway, Elizabeth A. Blanc, and Rachael Stull each garnered over 1,000 votes.
George also ruled O’Bryant and Ayers could not appear on the Democratic ballot due to the ineligibility of some petition signers.
Incumbent AmyBeth Hodges’ name did not appear on the Republican or Democratic ballots after George ruled in favor of a challenge claiming she incorrectly identified herself as a business owner on her nominating petition.
In his ruling, George wrote “it is unequivocally clear that she is not a ‘Business Owner.’ She does not have legal ownership in the real estate known as the Brafferton Inn located on the York Street property” in Gettysburg and has no “direct legal interest in the limited liability corporation” (LLC) that operates it.”
Hodges waged a write-in campaign, but it is unclear if she will be on the November ballot until after the write-ins are tallied. Additionally, local businessman Dave Sites threw his hat in the ring in a write-in campaign for a seat on the school board. Whether or not he was successful remains to be seen when the write-in votes are counted.
Littlestown Area School District
The Littlestown Area School Board may see some new faces. With five openings, the race included incumbent Yancy D. Unger and recently-appointed board member Lindsey Kress, who both cross-filed.
Candidates in the top spots on the Republican ballots included: Nick Lovell with 856 votes; Fred A. Miller with 716 votes; Danielle Brenneman with 631 votes; Mary E. Brenneman with 620 votes; and Duane Sullivan with 620 votes. All five candidates on the Democratic ballot will appear including Unger with 388 votes, Kress with 383 votes, Lovell with 365 votes, and Casey Dell with 343 votes.
Upper Adams School District had the most openings, five at-large, four-year term positions, and one at-large, two-year term position. The race included incumbent Cindy Janczyk and appointed board member Kay E. Hollabaugh.
Those in the top Republican spots for the four-year seats include: Neil Weigle with 800 votes; Tricia Plank with 748 votes; Loren W. Lustig with 579 votes; Janczyk with 538 votes; and Marya Djalal with 473 votes.
Candidates advancing from the Democratic ballot for the four-year spots include Janczyk with 211 votes; Deb Steckler with 211 votes; Sarah Little with 204 votes; Djalal with 190 votes; and Plank with 190 votes.
Hollabaugh had the most votes on both the Republican and Democratic ballots for the two-year term, recording 536 votes and 295 votes, respectively.