I want to research historical voting records for a small town in steel manufacturing town in south-central Pennsylvania. It’s my hometown and I’m just curious. I understand that although the town would have done much better over the years to vote democratic, it’s mostly gone to the republicans. Growing up there I have no doubt about this, but I wonder how it did during the depression and WW2.
I am totally ignorant about how to go about something like this, but I know there are some smart guys here. How do you research something like this?
Call City Hall. If they don’t have them, they’ll probably know who does.
Chances are you’re going to need to go there to do the research you want. Pennsylvania’s online records only go back to 2000. Like Anders suggested, City Hall is one place to try. However, since elections are run by the county, going to the county seat and finding which department handles elections, usually the county auditor, is a better bet. If you can get the detailed countywide results, you just need to pull out the specific precincts that comprise the town you’re interested in. Another place to try is a centralized library in the county, perhaps in a special collections section.
One possible source that may be available outside of the county is the state’s official register. I don’t know if Pennsylvania publishes one, but Iowa prints one every other year with election results by county printed in it. Since it’s relatively widely published, you might be able to get a copy on some sort of inter-library loan.
