Rules must be followed to ensure mail ballots are counted

Mail ballot requests have been approved for more than 36,700 Luzerne County voters for the Nov. 5 general election to date, and proper steps must be followed to ensure they are counted.

County Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said she and her board colleagues are sadly forced to reject some mail ballots after every election due to fatal defects.

“I want to stress to be really careful. Triple check to make sure the name is on there correctly and that the date is exactly correct. Make sure the ballot is in a secrecy envelope inside,” Williams said.

Following this year’s April 23 primary election, for example, approximately 54 “naked” ballots had to be rejected because voters placed them directly in the outer mailing envelope without first inserting them inside the yellow secrecy envelope. These secrecy envelopes must be shuffled so the workers processing them cannot link candidate selections to specific voters.

The number of naked ballots was an improvement from the 2023 general election, when 136 were not counted, Williams had noted. The state switched to color coding the envelopes as part of a redesign of mail ballot materials intended to reduce voter errors and confusion.

Some other reasons county primary election mail ballots were thrown out during one of the board adjudication sessions:

• 40 voters did not write any date on the outer envelopment to verify when they filled out the ballot. A federal appeals court panel had upheld enforcement of the technical date mandate.

• 71 voters wrote dates deemed “out of range” because they fell outside the period in which mail ballots were issued and permitted to be returned.

• 19 had dates with an in-range month and day but the incorrect final two digits of the year.

• 64 had no voter signatures or mark with a witness verification for those unable to sign due to a disability or illness.

Regarding the outer envelope date, Williams reiterated it is the date a ballot was filled out. Some voters use their birth dates or the wrong month.

“We see all different dates. Voters have to be careful,” she said.

Reminders

Some other details to ensure mail ballots are counted:

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

• 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 unique tracking bar code.

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

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

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

This last one actually prompted some debate after the primary in the tight Republican race for state representative in the 117th District.

A board majority had credited incumbent contender Mike Cabell with a vote based on its assessment of a partially shaded ballot bubble, against objections from his opponent, Jamie Walsh. Walsh ended up securing the nomination after all votes were tallied in the race.

Exactly 33% of the bubble next to Cabell’s name was shaded. Board Vice Chairwoman Alyssa Fusaro had voted against counting the vote because a majority of the shading was in the empty space between the bubbles for Cabell and Walsh, which she said made voter intent unclear.

Deadline

Ballots must be physically in the election bureau by 8 p.m. on Election Day, and postmarks do not count.

At this time, two mail ballot drop boxes are available:

• Broad Street Exchange, 100 W. Broad St., Hazleton: weekdays from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Nov. 1 and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Nov. 4. This box is not available on Election Day.

• Penn Place main lobby, 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays (Oct. 15, 22 and 29); 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the other weekdays; and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. In addition, the box will be available three weekends from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. — Oct. 19-20, Oct. 26-27 and Nov. 2-3.

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.

Williams advises against relying on regular mail to return ballots if only one week remains before the Nov. 5 general.

Voters in this situation can bring their mail ballots to a drop box so they are directly brought to the bureau on time or take them to the election bureau on the second floor of the county’s Penn Place building, Williams said. Another options is bringing the entire uncast mail ballot packet — ballots and envelopes — to the polling place to be spoiled so the voter can cast a ballot on the ballot marking devices, Williams said.

“Be really attentive to the date. If it were me, I would not be mailing a ballot back a week before Election Day if you want to make sure it gets there,” Williams said.

119th District

Due to a misspelling of state Rep. Alec Ryncavage’s name, new Nov. 5 general election mail ballots are being sent to approximately 6,700 mail ballot voters in the 119th District, the county election bureau announced Friday.

Postcards explaining the situation also will be sent to impacted voters.

The error was discovered Friday morning because voters started receiving mail ballots and reported the misspelling.

The 119th District covers the following municipalities: Nanticoke, Ashley, Edwardsville, Larksville, Plymouth, Sugar Notch, Warrior Run and the townships of Fairview, Hanover, Newport, Plymouth, Rice and Wright.

Ryncavage (R-Plymouth) is running against Democrat Megan Kocher. His last name appeared as “Tyncavage” on the ballot.

Because only one mail ballot bar code can be activated for each voter, the codes attached to the 6,700 already-sent ballots must be deactivated so new ballots with fresh bar codes can be generated and issued.

However, officials said all returned ballots in the 119th District will be segregated to ensure those with the misspelling are accepted if impacted voters do not cast a new ballot. In such cases, a selection for Tyncavage on the original ballot would be credited toward Ryncavage’s tally, officials said.

Voters who do not receive a correct ballot by Oct. 26 can contact the election bureau at 570-825-1715 for additional options, such as coming to the bureau to vote in person or casting a provisional ballot at their polling place on Election Day, the announcement said.

Curing

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 fatal 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.

Voters will be able to check the status of their mail ballot — including whether it is canceled due to deficiencies — through the online tracker at pavoterservices.pa.gov.

The county election bureau ended up reissuing mail ballots to 50 April 23 primary election voters because they were notified in advance of deficiencies that caused their initial ballots to be voided, officials had said.

As in the past, the election board also will supply lists of Nov. 5 general 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.

In addition to the past curing list generated on Election Day, the board unanimously voted last week to compile a curing list the day before the election to give party leaders and voters more time.