MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS TAKE PLACE IN ODD NUMBERED YEARS
2025 Petition-Signing Period is Feb. 18 – March 11
In order for a candidate to appear on the primary ballot in Pennsylvania, the candidate must secure a specified number of valid signatures on nomination petition forms, usually from voters who are registered in the same party as the candidate.* As a registered Democrat, you should be signing Democratic Candidate Petitions.
IF YOU ARE CIRCULATING PETITIONS FOR CANDIDATES
Circulators of petitions should be aware that you must be present when voters are signing the petition.
(You may not leave the petitions unattended for collecting signatures.)
KNOW YOUR CANDIDATES
If you are asked to sign a candidate’s petition, ask about their party registration.
Sign only petitions for Registered Democrats.
►See 2025 Election for List of Democratic Candidates and the number of petitions you can sign.
Multiple candidate positions are listed under the office name. Ex: more than one school director position on the ballot indicated with “VOTE FOR FOUR.”
►Find Your Lehigh County Commissioner District:
Commissioner Districts Were Redrawn in 2022
Enter your address on this LEHIGH COUNTY MAP Commissioner District will be listed in the left column
See 2025 Election for List of Commissioner Districts with verbal descriptions
►Find Magisterial Districts on the 2025 Ballot
See 2025 Election for List of Districts with verbal descriptions
►Find Your Municipality and Districts, including Voting District:
pavoterservices.pa.gov voter registration status
►Find Your School District:
Verbal description of school district areas
https://apps.dced.pa.gov/Munstats-public/FindMunicipality.aspx
*Cross-Filing Candidates — Be Aware of This Exception (Occurs in Odd-Year Municipal Elections)
There are three exceptions that permit candidates to run on both the Democratic and Republican Primary Ballot: candidates for County Common Pleas Court Judge, Magisterial District Judge and School Director. These candidates are permitted to cross-file and appear on both the Democratic and Republican Primary Ballots, if they are able to secure the required number of signatures on two separate petitions for voters from each of the parties.
PRINTABLE PDF OF THIS GRAPHIC (MAKE CERTAIN THE QR CODES ARE READABLE AFTER PRINTING)
Instructions for Signing Candidate Petitions
Non-compliance with any of the below instructions could cause rejection of your signature
and/or the petition.
USE INK
DO NOT USE DITTO MARKS anywhere on the petition.
Make sure that all blank spaces which appear at the top of the front page of the nomination petition are completed BEFORE you sign the petition.
TO SIGN A PETITION YOU MUST:
∎ Be a registered Democrat
Find your voter registration information, including Precinct, County, and Municipality HERE
∎ Reside in the electoral district referred to in the petition
►Find your County District HERE ►Find your Municipality and School District HERE
ON THE PETITION YOU MUST PROVIDE:
Your street address, not your mailing address.
Your MUNICIPALITY. This may be different than your mailing address. Ex. Your mailing address is Coplay, but your municipality is North Whitehall Township. If you do not know your municipality, go to the following website https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/ Choose “Find Voter Registration Status” and enter your information. Look for “Voting Districts.” This will list your Municipality.
The date of signing may be listed in numbers or words; e.g. 2/18/2023, 2-18-2023 or as February 18, 2023.
SIGN Your name should match your voter registration information. You must use your first and last name, not a nickname, or a spouse’s first name, (Mrs. John Jones is invalid, Mary Jones is valid).
Find your voter registration information at pavoterservices.pa.gov Choose “Find Voter Registration Status” and enter voter’s information.
Signers at the same residence CANNOT USE DITTO MARKS for last name, address, or any other information that already appears on the petition. And the person signing must fill out all areas themselves.
SIGN ONLY THE SPECIFIED NUMBER OF PETITIONS FOR EACH POSITION
The number of candidate petitions you can sign for a specific position, are dependent on the number of openings for that position. (See 2025 Election List of Candidates)
PETITION EVENT ASSISTANTS SHOULD READ EACH LINE BEFORE SIGNER LEAVES
If an error is found – Strike out the entire line and have the voter rewrite everything on the next line.
RESOURCE FOR DETERMINING VOTER’S REGISTRATION, VOTING DISTRICTS AND MUNICIPALITY
pavoterservices.pa.gov Choose “Find Voter Registration Status” and enter voter’s information. Look for “Voting Districts” to find Municipality and Legislative Districts.
2025 ELECTION page describes County Commissioner Districts and Magisterial Districts
►PRINTABLE FILE OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS◄
Graphic and Text