Dallas City News

Whether submitted by mail ballot or in person at the polls, Luzerne County has approximately 209,800 voters eligible to cast ballots in Tuesday’s general election.

Stating the obvious, a high turnout is expected.

The county’s turnout was 70% in the 2020 presidential general election, when there were 220,963 registered voters and 154,134 ballots cast, archives show.

Four years before that, in 2016, turnout was 67%, with ballots cast by 137,549 of 205,332 registered voters.

Two other previous presidential election turnout statistics: 2012, 65% (126,326 ballots cast), and 2008, 73.5% (138,076 ballots cast).

Voting at the polls

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

A list of all polling places is posted on the election bureau’s main page at luzernecounty.org.

Several polling places have changed since this year’s primary election, which are highlighted in yellow on the online chart.

The impacted voting precincts, along with the new locations as identified on the report: Pittston City Wards 2 and 3, St. Joseph Marello Church, 237 William St.; Wilkes-Barre Wards 10 and 11, St. Nicholas-St. Mary, 226 S. Washington St.; Wilkes-Barre Wards 15 and 16, St. Aloysius Padden Hall, 143 Division St.; Wilkes-Barre Wards 19 and 20, Osterhout Free Library South Branch, 100 Parrish St.; Wright Township District 1, Wright Township Municipal Building, 321 S. Mountain Blvd.; and Wright Township District 2, Wright Township Municipal Building (magistrate area), 321 S. Mountain Blvd.

Upon arrival, voters in all 186 precincts will sign in using electronic poll books.

After sign-in, voters make selections on touchscreen machines and then receive a paper ballot printout to verify their choices.

After reviewing this printout, voters must feed the ballot into a tabulator.

County Election Board Vice Chairwoman Alyssa Fusaro emphasized voters should check their ballot before they feed it into the tabulator to make sure they are satisfied with the selections. If they need to make a correction or have any other issues with the printout, they should inform a poll worker, she said.

Voters should not leave the polling place with this printout because it must be entered into the tabulator to lock in their vote.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo implored those with questions or concerns about the ballot marking devices, printouts or tabulators — or anything else they encounter in the polling place — to alert the judge of elections before they cast their ballot so the judge can assess the situation and, if warranted, resolve it.

“That is the only verifiable means for the election bureau to respond and investigate,” Crocamo said. “If they don’t formally alert the judge of elections, they’re doing a disservice not only to election integrity but to any legitimate issues.”

Voters also should be prepared for the possibility they will encounter lines at their polling place, which is typical in a presidential election, said Crocamo and county Election Director Emily Cook.

Provisional ballots

Voters who requested but never received a mail ballot can cast a paper provisional ballot at their polling place.

This option is always available to any voters to ensure they don’t lose an opportunity to cast a ballot.

Provisional ballots are marked by hand and reviewed last so the county’s five-citizen Election Board can verify a mail ballot was not also received from that voter and that everything else is in order.

“That’s the real back-up plan,” county Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said of provisional ballots. “Provisional ballots can all be sorted out by the election board to make sure there are no double votes or other issues.”

The details are important for provisional ballots, Williams and Fusaro emphasized.

They must be placed in a secrecy envelope, which is then inserted in an outer envelope.

Three signatures — two from the voter and one from the judge of elections — are required on the outer envelope for the vote to count.

Fusaro elaborated, saying voters should sign and date outer envelope spots — once when they receive the ballot and again when the turn it into the judge of elections. One signature spot is on the left, and the other is on the right, she said.

“Before they walk away, they should make sure the judge of elections signs that provisional ballot as they hand it in,” Fusaro said. “Voters should fill out everything on the envelope, even if they think it is not important.”

Due to the high turnout and potential for some mail ballot voters to not receive their requested ballots in time, some asked if polling places will need more provisional ballots than the 50 furnished to each polling place.

Crocamo and Cook said the bureau has an abundant extra supply of provisional ballots prepared and ready for rapid delivery to polling places by election rovers if they are needed. The bureau is not oversupplying provisional ballots in advance because each provisional ballot — deployed or not — must be tracked and logged, and excess ballots could unnecessarily create auditing issues on the back end, they said.

Paper supplies will long be a concern due to the November 2022 general election paper shortage.

“There’s absolutely no chance of us running out of paper,” Cook said in reference to the ample reserve the bureau has kept since 2022.

“We also have enough emergency ballots for every registered voter in every precinct in the off chance they would be needed,” Cook said.

Mail ballots

The county is continuing to scan and upload mail ballot arrivals to log their return in the state tracking system.

Voters can check the status of their mail ballot through the state’s online tracker at pavoterservices.pa.gov. The tracker requires voters enter their name as it appears on the mail ballot application, their date of birth and county.

Periodic checks (hit refresh) are advised because batches are being uploaded at daily intervals.

Ballots that have not yet been received or scanned as received by the bureau are labeled as “pending/not yet returned” in the status column.

The status column will say “record-ballot returned” if it has been scanned and received by the bureau.

An alert also will be posted if the ballot was received but has a fatal defect that would prevent it from being counted, namely a missing inner secrecy envelope or outer envelope voter signatures and dates.

Those receiving alerts of voided or otherwise deficient ballots will be able to appear at the election bureau to submit a new ballot on Monday or fill out a paper provisional ballot at their polling place on Election Day.

Voters have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to return their ballots. The ballots must be physically in the election bureau by the deadline.

Because postmarks do not count, voters returning ballots at this point should use one of the two drop boxes.

The locations and hours:

• Broad Street Exchange Building, 100 W. Broad St., Hazleton. This box is only available Monday (Nov. 4) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• Penn Place Building, 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre. This box is available Sunday (Nov. 3) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday (Nov. 4) from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Election Day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Mail voters who received but did not return their ballot also can bring the ballot package that was sent to them — the ballot and envelopes — to their polling place so it can be voided, allowing them to vote on the ballot marking device at their polling place.

Results

County results will be posted and updated at luzernecounty.org after the polls close.

The state’s electionreturns.pa.gov site will provide updated unofficial results in state races.

Voters may call 570-825-1715 or email elections@luzernecounty.org to report any issues.

The county must issue an unofficial tally of ballots, including mail ones, by midnight on election night as a condition for its acceptance of a state election integrity grant.

State legislation authorizing this grant also requires participating counties to remain in place and continue tallying until the unofficial count is completed instead of halting the count and returning the next day, officials said.

Identification/voter rights

First-time voters should bring proper identification materials to the polling place. Approved forms of photo identification include a Pennsylvania driver’s license or PennDOT identification card, a U.S. passport, or ID issued by any Pennsylvania government agency, the U.S. government, the U.S. armed forces, an employer or educational institution, the state said. Non-photo identification must contain the voter’s name and address and can include confirmation issued by the county election bureau, non-photo ID issued by Pennsylvania or the U.S. government, a firearm permit, government check or current paycheck, bank statement or utility First-time voters who do not bring ID to the polls can return with identification or must be offered a provisional ballot.

Extensive information about voter rights is posted at pa.gov.

U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam announced the creation of a regional team that will be be overseeing the handling of election day complaints regarding voting right concerns, threats of any kind to election officials or staff and election fraud — all in consultation with the U.S. Department of Justice headquarters in Washington.

Criminal Division Chief Bruce D. Brandler was appointed to oversee and lead the district’s election day program, while Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Consiglio, Geoffrey MacArthur and James Buchanan will serve as the district election officers for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in its Harrisburg, Scranton and Williamsport offices, it said.

Federal law protects against threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input, Brandler said.

The Voting Rights Act protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice when needed because of a disability or inability to read or write in English, Brandler said.

The district election officers will be on duty while the polls are open to respond to complaints and ensure complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities. Their contact information: Consiglio (Harrisburg) 717-221-4482; Buchanan (Scranton) 570-348-2800; and MacArthur (Williamsport) 570-326-1935.

In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on Election Day. The public can reach the local FBI field office at 215-418-4000.

Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, DC by phone at 800-253-3931 or by complaint form at https://civilrights.justice.gov/.

In cases of violence or intimidation, citizens are advised to immediately call 911 before contacting federal authorities.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.