Luzerne County aiming to send out mail ballots Friday

Luzerne County is aiming to start mailing Nov. 7 general election ballots this Friday to voters who requested them, according to the latest weekly election bureau update.

To date, 21,933 county voters have requested mail ballots for the general, or 11.2% of the county’s 195,003 registered voters, the bureau said.

A Friday mailing would fulfill county Manager Romilda Crocamo’s pledge to send out ballots well before the statutory deadline so voters who promptly fill them out will have the option of using regular mail to return them.

The statutory deadline for the county to send out mail ballots is not until Oct. 24, which would leave only two weeks before the Nov. 7 general for voters to receive the ballots through the U.S. Postal Service, fill them out and return them.

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

Continuing past practice, drop boxes will be set up at Misericordia University in Dallas, the Wright Manor assisted living facility in Mountain Top, the county-owned Penn Place Building at the corner of Market Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre and the county-owned Broad Street Exchange in downtown Hazleton.

The state deadline to apply for mail ballots is Oct. 31, although officials have urged voters to request them sooner if possible because that date is only one week before the general election.

Election preparations

After two rounds of review, proofing of general election paper ballots is now complete, the bureau said, thanking county election board members for their help in that process.

Proofing of ballots that will appear on electronic marking device screens at polling places will start Wednesday, the update said.

Public testing of the county’s mail ballot scanners will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday in the third-floor training room at Penn Place, Crocamo also announced.

Logic and Accuracy testing of the ballot marking devices and other election equipment, which also is open to the public, is scheduled at 11 a.m. on Oct. 10 at the county’s voting warehouse on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre, she said.

Election Board

The county’s volunteer, five-citizen election board will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Instructions for remote attendance are posted under council’s authorities/boards/commissions online meeting link at luzernecounty.org.

Agenda topics include the possible creation of a bipartisan team of election board members to review some surveillance video footage of drop boxes.

Board Vice Chairman James Mangan had proposed the surveillance review at the board’s last meeting Sept. 13, saying someone should be checking to determine if anything appears amiss.

Board member Alyssa Fusaro had agreed the surveillance video should be periodically monitored. Board member Audrey Serniak had said she was not opposed to reviewing footage but wants guidelines due to the massive volume of video captured while boxes have been in use.

Wednesday’s board agenda also includes updates from the election bureau on its proposed budget and spending of state Election Integrity Grant funding, it said.

Weekly report

As with prior reports, this week’s update lists a lengthy table of election preparation tasks, their status of completion and which workers are responsible for them.

The reports are posted on the election bureau page on the county site.

Some public reminders in the update:

• Voters should check their registration or ballot status by going to pavoterservices.pa.gov.

• Oct. 23 is the last day to register to vote in the general election.

• Voters with questions about their registration should contact the election bureau at 570-825-1715 or by emailing elections@luzernecounty.org.