Luzerne County voters set to receive mail ballots early next week

The approximately 15,000 Luzerne County voters who have submitted applications requesting May 20 primary election mail ballots to date should start receiving them in the coming days because they were issued last week, said county Election Director Emily Cook.

Cook said the bureau has been striving to mail the ballots early.

“We want to provide voters an opportunity to receive and return their ballots well ahead of Election Day,” Cook said.

Mail ballots must be physically in the election bureau by 8 p.m. on May 20, and postmarks do not count.

Two drop boxes have been set up inside county-owned buildings in Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre for voters who prefer that option instead of mailing them.

Cook said she will soon announce the hours and dates the drop boxes will be available.

The standard mailbox-style drop box used in past elections will be available inside the Broad Street Exchange Building in downtown Hazleton.

The box in the Penn Place Building lobby in Wilkes-Barre will have a camera and other added security features because the county is participating in a pilot program.

Cook said the bureau has prepared a video on the new box that will be posted on the election page at luzernecounty.org.

Follow instructions

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 one with the label/bar code to be returned to the county.

Voters must sign and date the outer envelope where indicated. The date refers to when the ballot was filled out, not a birth date.

Instructions must be precisely followed to ensure the ballot is counted, officials say.

For example, a recent court ruling concluded mail ballots cannot be invalidated due to issues with the handwritten dates on exterior envelopes, but county officials say that ruling could be overturned before the primary.

Some other reminders:

• Don’t write anything on the outside of the secrecy envelope, especially names or identifying marks.

• Fully shade in the ovals on the ballot and don’t mark choices with an X or slash or by circling them.

• Be careful not to select more than the specified number of candidates.

• Only one ballot should be placed inside a secrecy or mailing envelope. The county cannot count multiple ballots in the same envelope, such as those for a couple, because there would be no way to determine which ballot is tied to the voter listed on the envelope with the bar code.

• Don’t staple or place stickers on the ballot or inner/outer envelopes, particularly over the bar code.

• To cast a write-in vote for a person whose name is not on the ballot, shade in the oval beside the applicable write-in line and write his/her name.

• Fill in the ovals with black or blue ink, although black is preferred.

Under Pennsylvania 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 of the completed form (a photo on a phone works) and give the original form to their designated agent to carry when the mail ballot is returned. The state stressed this form should not be inserted in the yellow secrecy envelope.

Voters with questions about mail ballots, or any election matter, can contact the bureau at 570-825-1715 or by emailing elections@luzernecounty.org.

The state deadline to apply for mail ballots is 5 p.m. May 13, although officials always urge interested voters to request them sooner if possible because that date is only one week before the primary election.

Who votes

While primary elections are generally limited to Republicans and Democrats, voters of any affiliation or no affiliation in Nanticoke and Hazleton will be permitted to vote on referendums on the May 20 ballot.

Nanticoke voters will vote on a referendum asking if the city’s home rule charter should be amended to eliminate a consecutive, three-term limit for city council members.

Hazleton voters will decide if they want to convene a seven-member Government Study Commission to examine the city’s existing structure and, if warranted, draft and recommend a home rule charter. Study commission candidates also will be simultaneously selected, although they will only be seated if the referendum passes.

After submission

Voters will be able to check the status of their mail ballot through the tracker at pavoterservices.pa.gov.

If mistakes are made, there may be an opportunity for voters to remedy the situation.

Following state guidance, the election bureau will continue canceling ballots in the state tracking system if its ballot sorting machine detects missing voter signatures or handwritten date issues on outer envelopes or the absence of the required inner secrecy envelope.

While ballots can’t be unsealed until Election Day, the sorting machine uses weight to weed out those with missing inner secrecy envelopes. An outer envelope hole punch also indicates if the yellow inside envelope is not there.

When such flaws are discovered leading up to the election, the bureau alerts impacted voters if they provided an email address on their mail ballot application.

Those receiving alerts of voided deficient ballots will be able to appear at the election bureau to submit a new ballot or fill out a paper provisional ballot at their polling place on Election Day. Provisional ballots are reviewed last by the board to verify nobody is voting twice.

Ballots canceled due to deficiencies will be noted through the online tracker.

As in the past, the election board also will supply lists of May 20 primary election voters with 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. This is known as curing.

Polling places

For in-person voting, the county has posted a list of all polling places on the election page at luzernecounty.org.

Since the November general election, location changes have been made at polling places in Duryea Ward 3, Kingston Wards 1 and 2, Plains Township Ward 2, Wilkes-Barre Wards 19 and 20 and Wright Township districts 3 and 4.