Luzerne County election director provides 2026 election updates

Luzerne County Democrats running for local party committee seats in the May 19 primary election can start picking up nomination petition packets on Feb. 2, county Election Director Emily Cook said during last week’s county Election Board meeting.

Democrats will choose a male and female committee member in each of the 186 precincts. These committee members will then select district chairs and the county party chair.

Cook said she is not aware of any other local contests on the 2026 ballot, which will contain state and federal races. This is not a “municipal election” held every two years that features local municipal, school, and county seats.

May 19 primary candidates can circulate their nomination petitions between Feb. 17 and March 10.

Cook said she recently met with political party leaders about this year’s election cycle as part of her plan to perform more outreach.

She intends to post candidate information online. While this information is in packets her office furnishes to candidates, she wants to provide additional access to help mitigate issues because some candidates do not read everything in their packets, she said.

Election Board Member Rick Morelli verified with Cook that municipalities will be included in the outreach. He cited past issues in which some municipalities submitted incorrect information about which seats must be placed on ballots.

Cook said her office will attempt to educate municipalities because some local governments are unaware of their requirements, partly due to turnover in municipal secretary and manager positions that has led to a loss of institutional knowledge.

Election Task Force

County Manager Romilda Crocamo said a final report of the county’s Election Task Force should be completed in February.

She had created the task force to identify problems in state election law and to seek legislative action. Prior county controller Walter Griffith sought an update on the task force during last week’s Election Board meeting.

Crocamo said the Election Task Force must hold a meeting to formally adopt the report, and it will then be presented to the county Election Board.

Mail ballots

Approximately 58,000 county voters had checked a box to be placed on a permanent mailing list when they initially applied for a mail ballot.

As required by state legislation, the county must send mail ballot applications to these voters the first week of February each year. Voters who return applications will automatically receive mail ballots for all elections that year.

Cook told the Election Board on Wednesday that the 2026 letters have already been forwarded to the printing vendor for issuance.

Anticipating a wave of returned applications from these voters, Cook said the staff is set to work overtime to process them.

Information on the annual mailing list, and a form for those seeking removal from the list, are available at www.pa.gov.

Council meeting

County Council will hold a voting meeting and work session at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

A public hearing is scheduled before the meeting, at 5:30 p.m., to accept public comment on a proposed “election protection ordinance” set to appear on the voting agenda for a decision by council.

Instructions for the remote attendance option will be posted in council’s online meeting section at luzernecounty.org.

Committee meeting

Council’s Authorities, Boards, and Commissions (ABC) Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the county courthouse.

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