Luzerne County issues Nov. 4 general election mail ballots

Luzerne County’s Election Bureau has authorized the issuance of Nov. 4 general election mail ballots, which means they should be in the hands of voters who requested them within a week, county Election Director Emily Cook said Thursday.

Approximately 25,000 voters have requested mail ballots, Cook said.

Mail ballots must be physically in the election bureau by 8 p.m. on Nov. 4, and postmarks do not count.

Drop boxes also will be set up inside two county-owned properties — the Penn Place Building in Wilkes-Barre and the Broad Street Business Exchange in Hazleton — for voters who prefer that option instead of mailing them. Cook said she will soon announce the hours and dates the drop boxes will be available.

Mail voters receive instructions, a ballot, a yellow secrecy envelope and a white outer return envelope that contains the voter’s name and a label with a bar code that, when scanned, identifies that voter in the state’s database. The yellow secrecy envelope says, “official election ballot.”

After filling out their ballot, voters must place it in the yellow envelope, seal it and then put that envelope inside the one with the label/bar code to be returned to the county.

Voters are also directed to sign and date the outer envelope where indicated. The date refers to when the ballot was filled out, not a birth date.

Ballots can be thrown out if voters don’t follow these rules, except for the one involving the handwritten date.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a federal judge’s ruling concluding that mail ballots cannot be invalidated due to issues with the handwritten date on exterior envelopes.

District Judge Susan Baxter, an appointee of President Donald Trump in his first term, had determined the rejection of undated or wrongly dated ballots violated the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The need for a date has been questioned because the election bureau timestamps the ballots when they are received and does not accept ballots that arrive after the 8 p.m. Election Day deadline.

Mail ballot voters also should not:

• Write anything on the outside of the secrecy envelope, especially names or identifying marks.

• Select more than the specified number of candidates.

• Staple or place stickers on the ballot or inner/outer envelopes, particularly over the bar code.

Ballot ovals should be fully shaded and not marked with an X, a slash or by circling. Black or blue ink can be used, although county officials have said black is preferred.

To cast a write-in vote for a person whose name is not on the ballot, shade in the oval beside the applicable write-in line and write his/her name.

Under state law, voters are only allowed to mail or hand-deliver their own ballot unless they are serving as a designated agent for someone with a disability.

Disabled voters must fill out an official form authorizing someone to deliver their ballot for them. A copy of this designated agent form is posted at vote.pa.gov.

Voters should make a copy or photograph the completed form and give the original form to their designated agent to carry when the mail ballot is returned, in case the agent is questioned. The state has stressed this form should not be inserted in the yellow secrecy envelope.

After submission, voters can check the status of their mail ballot through the online tracker at pavoterservices.pa.gov.

Voters have until 5 p.m. on Oct. 28 to request general election mail ballots, but officials urge those interested to act sooner to ensure they receive them on time because that date is only one week before the election.

Those with questions about mail ballots, or any election matter, can contact the bureau at 570-825-1715 or by emailing elections@luzernecounty.org.

All county voters — mail and in-person — can view the contests and referendums that will appear on their ballot Nov. 4 in advance by visiting the ballot samples section of the election page at luzernecounty.org.