The vote totals didn't count, but by similar margins, voters across Pennsylvania and in Carbon County had their say about the mandatory retirement age of judges, and, in both cases, the electorate, by slim margins, said they want them to retire at age 70, not 75.

The balloting didn't count because the General Assembly at the last minute passed a resolution that called for the referendum to be put on the General Election ballot instead of Tuesday's primary election.When the move was challenged in state court, the court sided with the Legislature and said that despite the question being on the ballot, it wouldn't count.That decision notwithstanding, voters in Pennsylvania voted against changing the retirement age for judges to 75. That tally was 1,211,231 to 1,164,818, or 50.98 percent to 49.02 percent. The margin was by 46,413 votes.In Carbon County, 7,590 voters said "no" to increasing the retirement age to 75, compared with 6,690 who voted "yes," the margin being by 900 votes. Percentagewise, 53.15 percent of the county voters voted "no," while 46.85 percent said "yes."Meanwhile, whether or not the vote total is a barometer to the electorate's feelings won't be officially known until the General Election vote totals are tallied on Nov. 8.