The Luzerne County’s Election Bureau issued a statement on Tuesday confirming that they have mailed primary election ballots to 23,000 county voters who have requested them so far.
Emily Cook, the Acting Election Director of the county, said they were told that some voters have already gotten their ballots.
Cook recommended that voters should check the status of their ballot at www.pavoterservices.pa.gov.
Completed ballots must physically reach the election bureau by 8 p.m. on Election Day, and postmarks will not be considered.
The deadline set by the state to apply for mail ballots is April 16, although officials always advise interested voters to request them as early as possible because that date is only one week before the primary election.
Those who vote by mail will receive instructions, a ballot, an unmarked yellow privacy envelope, and an outer envelope containing the voter’s name and a label with a bar code that, when scanned, identifies the voter in the state’s database.
After completing their ballot, voters must place it in the privacy envelope, seal it, and then put that envelope inside the one with the label/barcode to be returned to the county.
The state has updated mail ballot materials to reduce voter mistakes and confusion. These changes include clearer instructions, highlighting of fields that voters must fill out on the outer envelope, and using color to make it easier for voters to differentiate the outer return envelope and inner privacy envelope.
A hole punch will also be present on the outer envelope. Mail-in ballots cannot be opened until Election Day, and the hole punch allows workers processing the ballots to quickly check for missing inner privacy envelopes without having to spend time opening them.
Cook mentioned that the county’s mail ballot drop boxes are available for voters who are interested in that option.
Here is the schedule:
• Misericordia University, Passan Hall, 100 Lake St., Dallas — on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on weekends from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Hazleton Exchange Building, 100 W. Broad St., Hazleton — on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Wright Manor (main lobby), 460 S. Main Road, Mountain Top — on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on weekends from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Penn Place (main lobby), 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre — on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Additionally, a countertop box is available in the election bureau on the second floor at Penn Place.
Penn Place is the only drop box site available on Election Day. The county will stop accepting ballots at the other three locations after the following times on April 22: Misericordia at 5 p.m.; Hazleton Exchange at 4 p.m.; and Wright Manor at 5 p.m.
According to Pennsylvania law, voters are only permitted to mail or hand-deliver their own ballot unless they are acting as a designated agent for someone with a disability. Disabled voters must complete an official form authorizing someone to deliver their ballot for them. A copy of the designated agent form is posted at vote.pa.gov.
The designated agent form is supposed to be wrapped around the outside of the ballot packet if it is being deposited in a drop box, officials have said.