Today is the last day to register to vote in Lehigh and Northampton counties for the May 19 primary

Voters in Lehigh and Northampton counties who want to cast a ballot in Pennsylvania’s May 19 primary must register by the end of the day Monday.

The hard deadlines for in-person registration are 4 p.m. at the Lehigh County office and 6 p.m. at the Northampton County office. Online registration at vote.pa.gov/Register is open until 11:59 p.m. in both counties.

Pennsylvania law requires voters to register at least 15 days before any election, making May 4 the cutoff for the primary, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State. Residents who are already registered do not need to register again unless they have moved, changed their name, or want to switch their political party.

To vote in a Pennsylvania primary, a voter must be registered with either the Democratic or the Republican party. Unaffiliated and third-party voters can still cast ballots on any local questions, but cannot vote in the partisan races.

How to register before the deadline

Eligible residents have three options:

• Online at vote.pa.gov/Register by 11:59 p.m.
• In person at the county voter registration office. Lehigh County’s office closes at 4 p.m. Northampton County’s office is open until 6 p.m.
• By mail, only if the application is received by the county office by the end of the day. Postmarks do not count.

Northampton County

Office of Elections and Voter Registration
669 Washington St., Lower Level, Easton
Phone: 610-829-6260

Lehigh County

Voter Registration Office
17 S. Seventh St., Lower Level, Allentown
Phone: 610-782-3194

Eligibility requirements

To register in Pennsylvania, a person must be a U.S. citizen for at least one month before the election, a resident of their election district for at least 30 days, and at least 18 years old by Election Day.

Mail ballots and Election Day

The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot is 5 p.m. on May 12. Completed mail ballots must be received by the county elections office by 8 p.m. on Election Day, May 19. Postmarks do not count.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on May 19. Anyone in line by 8 p.m. is entitled to vote.

What’s on the ballot

The May 19 ballot in Lehigh and Northampton counties includes statewide, congressional, state legislative, and party committee races. Below is a guide to the contests voters will see, organized by office.

Statewide: Governor and lieutenant governor

Both major parties have a single gubernatorial candidate on the primary ballot. Incumbent Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro is running for a second term unopposed in his primary. State Treasurer Stacy Garrity is the only Republican on the ballot. A group of supporters has launched a write-in campaign for state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who announced in January that he would not seek the GOP nomination.

The lieutenant governor’s primary is contested only on the Republican side. Democratic Lt. Gov. Austin Davis is running unopposed for renomination. Republicans Jason Richey, an Allegheny County attorney, and John Ventre, a former UPS executive, are competing for their party’s nomination.

U.S. House: 7th Congressional District

The 7th District covers all of Lehigh, Northampton, and Carbon counties and a sliver of Monroe County.

Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who flipped the seat by about 1 percentage point in 2024, is unopposed in the GOP primary.

Four Democrats are competing for the chance to challenge Mackenzie in November:

• Bob Brooks, president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association
• Ryan Crosswell, a former federal prosecutor
• Lamont McClure, former Northampton County executive
• Carol Obando-Derstine, an engineer and former U.S. Senate aide

State Senate

Half of Pennsylvania’s 50-member Senate is on the ballot this cycle. Two seats covering parts of the Lehigh Valley have primary activity:

• 16th District (parts of Lehigh and Bucks counties): Republican Sen. Jarrett Coleman is unopposed for renomination. Two Democrats — Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley and Pennridge School Board member Bradley Merkl-Gump — are running for the chance to challenge Coleman.
• 18th District (parts of Lehigh and Northampton counties): Democratic Sen. Lisa Boscola, in office since 1998, is unopposed in her primary after challenger Taiba Sultana was removed from the ballot by a court ruling that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed in April. Sultana is now running a write-in campaign. Republican Scott Janney, a gift planning director for the Salvation Army, is unopposed in the GOP primary.

State House

All 203 seats in the Pennsylvania House are on the ballot, including the seven covering parts of Lehigh and Northampton counties. Most local incumbents are unopposed in their primaries. Voters should consult a sample ballot for the candidates in their specific district.

One contested race to note in the region: the 22nd District Democratic primary in Lehigh County, where Rep. Ana Tiburcio, who won a Feb. 24 special election to fill the seat, faces a challenge from Allentown City Council member Ce-Ce Gerlach.

Local and party offices

Voters will also see races for Democratic and Republican state and county committee positions, depending on their party registration and the precinct they vote in. These intra-party offices help shape party operations and endorsements, but do not appear on the November ballot.

Voters can view a full sample ballot for their address, check their registration, and find their polling place at vote.pa.gov.