Copyright Mechanicsburg Patriot News
WILLIAMSPORT — One outstanding military vote could determine if the vice president of Williamsport City Council will serve a second four-year term. Republican incumbent Eric Beiter and political newcomer April Line, a Democrat, are currently tied with 2,415 votes. Four Lycoming County residents in the military, only one of whom lives in the city, have not returned their ballots, Forrest Lehman, county elections director, said. The deadline for receipt of military ballots is Wednesday because of the Veterans Day holiday, he said. If that ballot is not received by the deadline, the tie result will be certified, and the winner will be determined Nov. 21 in a drawing with whoever draws the lower number declared the victor, he said. It is the same procedure used to determine ballot position where there are multiple candidates for an office, he explained. Beiter led by 12 votes before the eligible provisional votes were counted. She received 18 of them while Beiter got only six to create the tie. Lehman said he hopes the tie is an object lesson for the citizens that every vote counts. “Here’s a real example,” he said. Beiter led all City Council candidates in the number of votes received on election day with 2,079, but Line received double the number of mail-in votes as him, 665 to 336. “When you look at the totals, Republicans showed up at the polls and the Democrats at the post office,” was Beiter’s response to the election results. Republicans need to realize the importance of mail-in ballots, he said. His campaign consisted of going door-to-door and making phone calls, he said. He lamented that no organization staged a debate so the public would learn the views of the candidates. Line, a self-employed business consultant who moved to the city from the Carlisle area in 2010, ran an “April listens” campaign that included rallies and clean-up days. She also had the backing of Democrat Mayor Derek Slaughter. She chose to run for council because she said she now had the time and resources to give back to the community. She wants to be a voice for those who do not have a voice, she said. As part of her campaign, she wrote a little song she put on TikTok that stated perimenopause gave her the energy to run. She does not regret doing that, she said. Line said she has a lot of thoughts on how the city should move forward, but wants to wait to see if she is elected before discussing them publicly. However, she did say the condemned City Hall should be sold “post haste.” The historic building has been vacant since September 2021, except for police records, due to water damage from roof leaks and a pipe burst. The city received a $550,500 bid from JBAS Realty of Jessup to buy the more than 130-year-old building, but it has been tabled since 2023. The other two successful candidates for council, both Democrats, were incumbent Liz Miele with 2,813 votes and another political newcomer, Jonah Miliken, with 2,677. Republican David J. Dussinger was last with 1,980 votes. Voter turnout in the city was 34.85 percent compared with 41 percent overall in the county.
