Luzerne County Election Board’s post-election adjudication will start sooner

The Luzerne County Election Board’s post-election adjudication will start sooner than in the past.

Adjudication determines which flagged mail and provisional ballots are accepted or rejected and tallies write-in votes.

Traditionally, adjudication begins the Friday after elections, but county Election Director Emily Cook told the board she and her staff will have all necessary Nov. 4 general election information prepared to begin on Thursday.

Cook said she changed procedures to prioritize adjudication preparation, allowing an earlier start.

The adjudication, which is open to the public, will begin at 9 a.m., Nov. 6, on the third floor (courtroom A) of the Penn Place Building, 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave. in Wilkes-Barre.

Additional sessions will be scheduled as necessary to complete the process.

Continuing a format initiated for this year’s primary, an election staff canvassing board will handle the review and processing portion of adjudication so that work does not fall on the volunteer, five-citizen election board.

Election board members still have the opportunity to seek further information and have final say on which ballots are counted.

The following county election workers will serve on the canvassing board: Cook; Steve Hahn, deputy election director; Denise Shimko, voting system specialist; and Amanda Latoski, election deputy chief clerk.

Election help

The county is seeking bilingual residents interested in assisting Spanish-speaking voters at Hazleton area polling places on Election Day, Nov. 4, Latoski told the election board last week.

Latoski said the help was requested by southern county poll workers due to the volume of Spanish-speaking voters.

Interested residents should call the bureau at 570-825-1715 or email elections@luzernecounty.org.

Curing

As in the past, the election board will supply lists of Nov. 4 general election voters with mail ballot defects to party leaders so they can attempt to contact those voters and inform them of their option to cast a provisional ballot at the polls before 8 p.m. on Election Day.

This is known as curing.

A curing list will be provided once on the day before the election and twice on Election Day.

Real estate

Council’s Real Estate Committee is set to meet at 6 p.m. Monday in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

The meeting had been scheduled to discuss a potential revised policy on the submission of purchase offers for unused county-owned real estate.

Future discussion and approval by the full council would be necessary for policy changes to take effect.

Instructions to attend the meeting remotely will be posted in the council’s online public meetings section at luzernecounty.org.

Infrastructure

Council’s Infrastructure Committee will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the courthouse.

Instructions to attend the meeting remotely will be posted in the council’s online public meetings section at luzernecounty.org.