Luzerne County’s mail ballot drop box in Wilkes-Barre, shown here, and one in Hazleton will be activated this week because primary election mail ballots were sent Monday to approximately 21,000 voters who requested them.
File photo
Luzerne County May 19 primary election ballots were mailed Monday, which means voters should start receiving them this week, county Election Director Emily Cook said.
Approximately 21,000 voters requested mail ballots, Cook said.
May 5 is the primary mail ballot distribution deadline, but county officials have worked to send them out sooner so voters have ample time to receive, complete, and return them by 8 p.m. on Election Day. The ballots must be physically in the bureau by that deadline because postmarks do not count.
The county’s mail ballot drop boxes in Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton will be activated this week, Cook said. The hours the boxes are available will be posted on the election page at luzernecounty.org.
A standard mailbox-style box will remain in the county-owned Broad Street Business Exchange Building in Hazleton for the primary, as it has since 2023, Cook said. The county is in the process of selling this building to a private company, but the new owner is willing to continue hosting the box, officials said.
The box in the lobby of the county-owned Penn Place Building at the corner of Market Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre is an updated version of the one set up there last year.
Runbeck Election Services delivered a new replacement box at no additional charge because its prior pilot program box did not capture photographs of voters depositing ballots as promised for the November general election. Runbeck sold the box to the county for $12,000 as part of a pilot program implemented for the 2025 primary election.
Runbeck representatives believe an internal component issue prevented the main and backup storage of recorded photographs, Cook has said.
Ballot directions
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 envelope with the label/bar code for return 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.
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.
Selection boxes on the ballots should be fully shaded and not marked with an X, a slash, or by circling. The county is instructing voters to use only black ink.
To cast a write-in vote for a person whose name is not on the ballot, shade in the box 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 that this form should not be inserted in the yellow secrecy envelope.
Voters have until 5 p.m. on May 12 to request primary 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.
County Democratic and Republican voters — mail and in-person — can view the contests that will appear on their ballot in advance by visiting the ballot samples section of the election page at luzernecounty.org.
Cook also reminded voters that two primary election polling place changes were approved by the county Election Board earlier this month:
• Plains Township Ward 3 voters will cast ballots at the St. Peter and Paul Parish’s Bernadine Hall, 13 Hudson St., instead of the Hillside Itlo Club on Chamberlain Street due to construction.
• Swoyersville Ward 1 voters will switch from the Music Box Dinner Playhouse on Hughes Street to the Maltby Volunteer Fire Co., 253 Owen St., due to a performance at the Music Box.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
