More than 55K Luzerne County voters seek mail-in ballots

Approximately 55,360 Luzerne County voters have applied for mail-in ballots in the Nov. 3 general election to date, county Election Director Shelby Watchilla said Monday.

That’s 25.6% of the county’s 216,108 registered voters.

In the June 2 primary, the county had processed more than 53,440 requests for mail-in ballots and ended up receiving 40,300 returned ballots.

The option to vote by mail with no excuse or reason required was available for the first time in the primary due to bipartisan state legislation that passed last year.

The county plans to start mailing the ballots next week to voters who requested them.

Ohio-based Election IQ LLC will handle both printing and mailing of the county-approved ballots under a contract that county Manager C. David Pedri signed Monday. The county Election Board is set to proof the ballots at its meeting Wednesday, Watchilla said.

Election IQ will charge $1.28 per mail-in ballot, which covers all services except for postage, officials said. The expense will be paid with coronavirus relief funding. The county must fund postage to mail the ballots to voters, while the state is picking up the postage tab for voters to send back their completed ballots.

In the upcoming general election, voters who received mail-in ballots will be permitted to cast regular ballots on the electronic machines at their polling places if they bring in the never-returned, mail-in ballot and entire packet that had been sent by the county so it can be voided or “spoiled.”

Voters must bring the “ENTIRE packet” of mail-in ballot materials with them to the polling place if they want to vote on the machines, stressed a voter information letter the county Election Board plans to approve Wednesday.

“We need to emphasize this for people who receive a mail-in but may still want to vote at the polls. I think we will see a lot of that,” said county Election Board Vice Chairman Peter Ouellette.

County Councilman Walter Griffith also has voiced this concern and wants the requirement prominently displayed on the county website, saying he envisions voters unknowingly scrapping the material with the ballot, preventing them from voting on the machines if they later decide they want that option.

If those materials are not presented, a provisional ballot will be required at the polls, which was the only option available in the primary. Provisional ballots are reviewed last and allow the county to verify a voter did not already cast a ballot by mail, officials said.

Oct. 27 is the deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot, although the election board “strongly” suggests requesting a ballot sooner to meet the Nov. 3, 8 p.m. postmark deadline for returned ballots, the board’s information letter says.

The plan is to return to all pre-coronavirus pandemic polling places on Nov. 3, although Watchilla said 20 sites will be unavailable, mainly because of issues related to the continuing coronavirus pandemic. The bureau is researching replacements in these areas and will present them to the board when new locations are identified, she said.

In the primary, the number of voting sites was temporarily reduced from 144 to 58 to alleviate concerns about proper social distancing and pandemic-related shortages of poll workers and polling places.

On the issue of a still-ongoing investigation into nine overseas military Nov. 3 mail-in ballots that were prematurely opened and discarded, Watchilla said she cannot comment at this time.

Pedri has said the ballots were opened and discarded by a temporary, seasonal worker who was in the office from Sept. 14 to Sept. 16, when he was immediately removed from service after Watchilla discovered and reported the problems with the ballots.