County Acting Election Director Emily Cook stated that the 22,758 Luzerne County voters who asked for mail-in ballots for the April 23 primary election should start getting them this week.
Cook mentioned on Friday that the data was sent to the printer, Phoenix Graphics Inc. in Rochester, New York. She was waiting for proofs from the vendor before giving the final approval to print and mail the ballots.
It has been mentioned by officials that Phoenix Graphics must take the ballots to the U.S. Postal Service distribution center in the Lehigh Valley in order for them to arrive sooner at addresses in the county.
According to Cook, sending the ballots this week will put the county ahead of schedule because the statutory deadline to send the ballots to voters is April 9. The county administration has been trying to send them out earlier than required to give voters enough time to fill them out and still have the option to use regular mail to return them.
Ballots need to be physically at the election bureau by 8 p.m. on Election Day, and postmarks are not considered.
The deadline to apply for mail ballots from the state is April 16, but officials always encourage interested voters to request them earlier if possible because that date is only one week before the general election.
Based on current requests, 11.5% of the county’s 197,818 registered voters have asked for mail ballots. However, more accurate percentages on ballots cast by mail versus in-person at the polls will be available after the primary election.
Mail voters will receive instructions, a ballot, an unmarked secrecy envelope, and an outer envelope that includes the voter’s name and a labeled barcode that identifies the voter in the state’s database when scanned.
After completing their ballot, voters must place it in the secrecy envelope, seal it, and then place that envelope inside the one with the label/barcode to be returned to the county.
The state has made changes to mail ballot materials to reduce voter mistakes and confusion. These changes involve clearer instructions, highlighting of fields the voters must fill in on the outer envelope, and coloring to make it easier for voters to differentiate the outer return envelope and inner secrecy envelope.
A hole punch will also be included on the outer envelope. Mail ballots cannot be unsealed until Election Day, and the hole punch allows workers handling the ballots to quickly confirm missing inner secrecy envelopes without having to spend time unsealing them.
Drop boxes
Cook stated that the county’s mail ballot drop boxes are planned to be set up today.
The election bureau has listed the available hours of the boxes on the election page at luzernecounty.org.
The schedule:
• Misericordia University, Passan Hall, 100 Lake St., Dallas — weekdays 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; weekends 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Hazleton Exchange Building, 100 W. Broad St., Hazleton — weekdays 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Wright Manor (main lobby), 460 S. Main Road, Mountain Top — weekdays 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., weekends 7 a.m.-8 p.m.
• Penn Place (main lobby), 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre — weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Also, there is a box available for counting votes in the election office on the second floor at Penn Place.
According to Pennsylvania law, voters are only allowed to send or deliver their own ballot unless they are assisting someone with a disability. People with disabilities need to complete an official form to designate someone to deliver their ballot.
A copy of the form for designated agents is displayed at vote.pa.gov.
Last December, members of the County Election Board asked for clarification on what voters should do with the designated agent form if they are using mail ballot drop boxes.
Former election director Eryn Harvey mentioned she consulted the Pennsylvania Department of State and learned that voters should wrap the form around the outside of the ballot packet if they are putting it in a drop box.
The office keeps all submitted forms for potential future access, but there is no way to independently track how many disabled voters depend on designees because voters make that decision privately, Harvey said back then.
Reminders
Some things to remember to ensure mail-in ballots are counted:
• Avoid writing anything on the outside of the privacy envelope, especially names or identifying marks.
• Completely fill in the circles on the ballot and avoid marking choices with an X or slash or by circling them.
• Be careful not to choose more candidates than the specified number.
• Only one ballot should be placed inside a privacy or mailing envelope. The county is unable to count several ballots in one envelope, for example, those for a couple, because it would be impossible to determine which ballot is connected to the voter listed on the envelope with the bar code.
• Avoid stapling or putting stickers on the ballot or inner/outer envelopes, particularly over the bar code.
• To vote for a person whose name is not on the ballot, fill in the circle beside the appropriate write-in line and write down the person's name.
• Fill in the circles with black or blue ink, although black is preferred.
• Sign and date the outer envelope where indicated. The date refers to when the ballot was filled out, not a birth date.
An accurate date is important because a federal appeals court panel recently upheld enforcement of the technical mandate.
If errors are made, there may be a chance for voters to correct the situation.
Following state guidance, the election office will invalidate ballots in the state tracking system if its ballot sorting machine detects missing voter signatures or handwritten date issues on outer envelopes or the absence of a required inner privacy envelope.
While ballots cannot be opened until Election Day, the sorting machine uses weight to identify those with missing inner privacy envelopes.
If such critical issues are found before the election, the office notifies affected voters if they provided an email address on their mail ballot application, Cook has said.
Those who receive notifications about invalidated deficient ballots will be able to visit the election office to submit a new ballot or complete a paper provisional ballot at their polling place on Election Day. Provisional ballots are reviewed last by the board to confirm nobody is voting twice.
Voters can use the online tracker at pavoterservices.pa.gov to check the status of their mail ballot, even if it has been canceled due to errors, Cook said. pavoterservices.pa.gov, Cook said.
Before 8 p.m. on Election Day, the county election board will provide lists of voters with ballot issues to party leaders. They can then try to reach out to affected voters and let them know they can cast a provisional ballot at the polls. This is called curing.
Study commission
In the primary, voters will select seven citizens to serve on a county government study commission. However, they will only take their positions if most county voters approve a referendum also on the ballot, asking if they want to form a commission.
If a commission is formed, it must review the county’s current home rule structure, which started in 2012, and decide if it wants to make and suggest changes.
The commission will be able to suggest changes to the existing charter, create a completely new charter, or return to the previous state code system. This system involved three elected commissioners and multiple row officers making decisions, which are currently handled by an 11-member council and appointed manager.
Any proposed change would need approval from voters to go into effect.
All primary ballots will notify voters that they can elect commission candidates, regardless of how they vote on the commission formation question. In other words, they can vote for candidates even if they oppose forming the commission.
In January, the county election board decided to include a more detailed explanation of the study commission referendum with the mail ballots. The Department of State approved the addition of this “plain language statement” with mail ballots, which must also be displayed at polling places on Election Day.
While Pennsylvania holds closed primaries, the county’s 26,818 voters who are not affiliated with the Republican or Democratic parties will have the chance to vote on the study commission referendum and candidates. Their ballots will only include the study commission referendum and commission candidates.
Voters can contact the bureau at 570-825-1715 or email [email protected] with any questions about mail ballots or any election matters.
