League of Women Voters Seeks Write-In Candidates for May 2026 Voters Guide

The deadline falls tomorrow. Write-in candidates who want their names, biographical profiles, and policy positions included in the Union County Voters Guide for the May 19, 2026 General Primary must formally notify the League of Women Voters of the Lewisburg Area by March 30, giving anyone still weighing a campaign less than 24 hours to act.

The League's announcement draws a clear line between two categories of candidate: those whose names already appear on the printed ballot are automatically included in the Voters Guide, while anyone running a write-in campaign must take the additional step of contacting the League directly, providing required biographical and position information in time for volunteers to assemble the guide content on schedule.

Pennsylvania law does not require write-in candidates to file a formal declaration with their county elections office for votes to be counted on primary day. Every write-in ballot cast in Union County on May 19 will be certified by the Board of Elections exactly as the name appears on that ballot. That rule carries practical weight: a vote for "Jane Miller," "J. Miller," and "Jane A. Miller" are recorded as separate totals rather than grouped together, which can fracture a write-in campaign's numbers unless supporters are given clear, consistent spelling instructions beforehand. Under Pennsylvania Election Code Section 1406, a candidate can petition the Court of Common Pleas to cumulate similarly spelled names, but that petition must be filed within five days of the Board's certification, meaning the legal work begins after the polls close, not before.

That vulnerability is precisely why early registration with the League matters. Inclusion in the Voters Guide gives write-in campaigns a structured, nonpartisan platform to reach voters before ballot-day confusion sets in. The printed guide is distributed free of charge at post offices, libraries, and government buildings across Union County, and the same candidate information is published on Vote411, the national voter-education platform that residents can browse before heading to the polls. The League publishes the guide approximately one month ahead of each election, meaning the March 30 notification deadline is the upstream chokepoint for any write-in candidate who wants that exposure.

The guide itself is produced entirely by League volunteers and carries no candidate endorsements. It presents each candidate's biographical information and self-provided responses in a uniform format, giving voters a side-by-side comparison that write-in candidates would otherwise have no guaranteed way to access. In local races where margins can be decided by dozens of votes, township supervisors, school board seats, and municipal judge positions have historically been among the contests most susceptible to write-in outcomes in Pennsylvania counties of Union's size.

Write-in candidates seeking inclusion should contact the League of Women Voters of the Lewisburg Area directly and submit required information ahead of the March 30 cutoff. Voters can access the completed guide at Vote411.org or pick up a print copy at Union County government buildings, libraries, and post offices starting approximately one month before the May 19 primary.