Luzerne County home rule charter referendum ballot wording error detected

A ballot error in Luzerne County’s home rule charter referendum on the Nov. 4 general election ballot was revealed and discussed during Wednesday’s county Election Board meeting.

The following question had been approved: “Shall the Home Rule Charter of the County of Luzerne be repealed and the form of government recommended in the report of the Government Study Commission, dated July 28, 2025, be adopted as authorized by the Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law?”

The question appearing on mail ballots and ballots programmed into electronic marking devices for Election Day is the same until the end, saying “as authorized by the Home Rule Charter form of government” instead of the Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law.

Two representatives of the nonprofit In This Together NEPA — Board President Claudia Glennan, of Salem Township, and Executive Director Alisha Hoffman-Mirilovich, of Fairview Township — pointed out the error and expressed concerns about the potential negative impact on voters during public comment at Wednesday’s meeting.

Hoffman-Mirilovich questioned the legality of deviating from the referendum wording and how the county plans to address and mitigate the error.

County Election Director Emily Cook said the wording was mistakenly changed when the ballot was created and not detected during cycles of proofing.

Cook said the wording is correct in required legal advertising, postings that will appear in county polling places on Election Day and the election proclamation on the county website. She also added separate postings on the election page at luzernecounty.org highlighting the charter question as well as a referendum in Pittston.

County Assistant Solicitor Gene Molino told the board he reported the error to the Pennsylvania Department of State and was informed it does not require state action or intervention.

In his legal opinion, Molino said the wording change is a “de minimis error” that “does not affect the substance of the ballot question at all.”

The question is accurate throughout except for the citation of the applicable law at the end, Molino said.

He emphasized the referendum itself is not the basis for voters to decide if they are voting yes or no because they must independently research all the charter changes proposed by the study commission, including options to read the commission’s final report or a copy of the proposed new charter on the commission page at luzernecounty.org.

Cook said the bureau is “well past the point” in which it would be feasible to reprogram the ballot marking devices. More than 5,000 mail ballots have already been returned, and cancelling them now to print and send out replacements would disenfranchise voters, she said.