As part of efforts to ensure the accuracy of the ballots, the Luzerne County election bureau has made the April 23 primary election sample ballots available for public review, stated Emily Cook, the Acting Election Director, on Tuesday.
Cook mentioned, 'We want as many people as possible to check all parts of the ballots early to make sure everything is completely accurate.'
The sample ballots can be found on the election bureau's page at luzernecounty.org. luzernecounty.org.
If anyone notices a problem, they should email [email protected], Cook added.
In total, the election bureau has produced 561 different ballot “styles” for the upcoming primary, Cook explained.
The county is divided into 187 separate zones for voting, which includes 186 standard voting precincts and one split off based on Congressional boundaries, she elaborated.
Each zone must have customized ballots for three groups — Republicans, Democrats, and voters not registered in those parties.
Although Pennsylvania has closed primaries, voters of other affiliations or no affiliation in the county will have a chance to decide whether the county should form a government study commission and choose seven citizens to serve on the panel if it is activated by a majority of county voters.
Cook noted that the bureau actually needs to review and correct 1,683 ballots — 561 multiplied by three — because each ballot must be produced on paper for mail ballot and provisional voters, on screens for ballot marking devices used at polling places, and by audio for the hearing impaired.
Candidates and all election stakeholders, including voters, are encouraged to review the ballots for errors, as one person might notice something missed by others, Cook said, mentioning that a few errors have already been identified and forwarded for correction.
Updated versions of the ballots will be posted in the upcoming days to include any corrections and an official Spanish language translation, she mentioned.
“I want to make sure people know this is not the final ballot. This is round one of proofing,” she emphasized.
Even though this is not a local-level election year, there are two committee seats open in each voting precinct for the county Republican Party, totaling 372.
From reviewing the list, it is observed that 71 precincts have at least two candidates on the ballot. The remaining 115 precincts have only one candidate or no candidates, which means winners will be selected through write-in votes.
Study commission
County Manager Romilda Crocamo stated Tuesday that the administration is still considering options to fit all 17 study commission candidates on one screen of the ballot marking devices so scrolling will not be necessary.
Crocamo mentioned that any deviation from the standard single-column layout would need approval from the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Study commission candidate Matthew Mitchell, a previous county council member, has supported placing everyone on the same screen, stating that approach would be “more fair.”
In the November general election, 10 county council candidates appeared on the screen, while voters had to touch a scroll-down box to see the names of the remaining two candidates — Mitchell and Kimberly Platek. Mitchell said he received calls the morning of the election from voters indicating they could not find his name.
He said that if they used the same layout again, people would have to scroll to find seven candidates. Mitchell suggested that they could fit all candidates on the screen by reducing the white space, without making the text too small.
Crocamo said that she and election bureau representatives have been collaborating with Dominion Voting Systems Inc., the voting system supplier responsible for the programming of the ballot layout.
She has stated that the layout must be carefully designed to ensure that all candidates are equally visible, without any bias or disadvantage to any individual.
In the past, there has been a situation where candidates were displayed in two columns on the ballot. Leonard Piazza, a former county election director, worked with the previous voting system supplier to address concerns about excessive scrolling by arranging larger contests in two columns on the ballot marking device.
For instance, in the 2011 election for the initial 11-member council under home rule, 33 Democrats and 16 Republicans competed for their party’s nominations.
Election board
There is another ballot-related issue scheduled for discussion at the county election board meeting on Wednesday.
The board is asking for a legal opinion from the county law office to determine whether mail ballot selections should be counted when voters encircle yes or no on a ballot question, or circle a candidate’s name instead of shading in the ovals as instructed.
Denise Williams, the Election Board Chairwoman, mentioned that the question has arisen multiple times during post-election adjudication. She emphasized the need for a legal opinion in advance so that the board can establish a clear course of action.
