Late ballots will be accepted from Luzerne County special election voters impacted by state glitch

Luzerne County’s Election Board will be permitted to count approximately 305 mail ballots if they arrive after Tuesday’s special election for state representative in the 116th Legislative District because the impacted voters received the ballots late “through no fault of their own,” a county judge ruled Monday.

The board, which requested the deadline extension, had announced Friday that the election bureau discovered the state did not correctly upload two files containing mail ballot information for the 305 voters.

The bureau learned of the matter from a voter who had not received his ballot. Once the problem was detected, the files were immediately uploaded, but the board said voters received the ballots too late to ensure they would arrive back in the bureau by Tuesday’s 8 p.m. return deadline.

Three candidates — Democrat Amilcar Arroyo, Republican Robert Schnee and Libertarian Paul Cwalina — are on the ballot. The winner will serve through this year, filling a term vacated by Tarah Toohil now that she is a county judge.

According to Monday’s order from county Court of Common Pleas Judge Lesa S. Gelb:

The 305 voter were disenfranchised “due to what can be plainly characterized as a glitch in the computer program controlled by the state.”

The county and its election bureau were not at fault, and the county’s emergency relief petition is designed to correct this type of error.

Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams and board member Alyssa Fusaro agreed to the following protocol to protect election integrity and voter privacy:

• Board Solicitor Paula L. Radick will file a list of the 305 impacted voters, under seal with the court, identifying them by voter identification number only, along with the two original affected data files.

• The board will accept all mail ballots from these voters that are postmarked by April 4, or the day before the election, and delivered by the U.S. Postal Service to the election board by 4 p.m. April 11. These ballots will be segregated from other mail ballots received before the 8 p.m. Election Day deadline. The board will keep a record of the receipt date of all impacted ballots.

• On April 12, the court will release to Radick the list that had been filed with the court under seal. The board will meet with Radick as soon as possible to confirm that the late ballots to be counted are verified against the list that had been presented to the court.

• The board shall consider these ballots for tabulation.

As with all mail ballot voters, the 305 impacted voters also have the option to vote at their polling place on Election Day by bringing in their mail ballot paperwork to be “spoiled” or by casting a paper provisional ballot. Voters also may drop off their mail ballot in the county’s Penn Place Building, 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre, before 8 p.m. on Election Day.

A group of state Senators representing the county announced Monday they are searching for an explanation from the state on the source of the error.

State Senators Lisa Baker (R-Lehman Township), John Yudichak (I-Swoyersville), David G. Argall (R-Schuylkill) and John Gordner (R-Berwick) issued the joint statement.

It said they are requesting additional information on the cause and nature of the error and what actions are being taken to prevent it from reoccurring.

”Effective election processes are essential to conducting a successful election and to voter confidence in election results,” the statement said.