Hearing on challenged Luzerne County provisional ballots set for Tuesday

The number of contested Nov. 5 general election provisional ballots rose to more than 1,000 on Thursday in Luzerne County, and a hearing on challenges will be held Tuesday, said county Election Director Emily Cook.

Cook is manually compiling a list of all impacted voters and said it will be publicly posted at luzernecounty.org by Monday at the latest, although she is striving to complete and proof the list for posting this weekend.

Tuesday’s public hearing will be at 9:30 a.m. in the county Election Board’s third-floor adjudication room at the Penn Place Building, 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre.

Challenges were lodged by attorneys representing the campaigns of U.S. Senate candidates Robert P. Casey Jr. and Dave McCormick.

As previously reported, the board’s acceptance and rejection of 990 provisional ballots had been challenged by Wednesday evening — most by Casey’s campaign. The remaining challenges were lodged Thursday.

The latest unofficial statewide vote gap between Casey and McCormick was 24,797 Thursday, with McCormick in the lead and more provisional and mail ballots awaiting processing by counties. The state notified counties Wednesday a mandatory recount also will be required due to the margin.

Paper provisional ballots are cast at polling places on Election Day and must be reviewed last by the board to verify the voters are properly registered and did not also cast a mail ballot.

Challenges included disagreements over missing inner secrecy envelopes and outer envelope signatures from voters and the judges of elections and whether voters had valid registrations making them eligible to vote.

119th Legislative District

During Thursday’s adjudication, the county’s five-citizen election board started processing a batch of approximately 950 mail ballots in the 119th Legislative District, Cook said.

Approximately 7,000 mail ballots in the 119th Legislative District had to be reissued because incumbent state Rep. Alec Ryncavage’s name was misspelled. The vendor accepted responsibility for that error.

Cook said the 950 ballots now being processed by the board were among those originally issued and returned by voters. Her office verified none of these voters cast a second reissued ballot, she said.

Separate from this batch of 950, there are 1,300 original ballots in the 119th that were inadvertently unsealed on Election Day instead of remaining segregated for review during the board’s adjudication.

The board has not yet determined how these 1,300 ballots will be addressed. The unsealing meant ballots were separated from the outer envelopes that identify the voters.

Call for legislative action

Cook reiterated frustrations Thursday about the need for state legislators to address issues taxing election offices around the state, such as voter registration and mail ballot requests permitted too close to the election.

While emphasizing she is open to improvements and efficiencies within the county’s election bureau, Cook maintained many complaints about the way elections are conducted stem from an outdated state law. Legislators have not enacted “major or relevant changes” incorporating needs expressed by election officials striving to successfully administer elections, Cook said.

“I’m tired of being the punching bag of the local legislators for something we have asked to be fixed and that they have refused to fix,” Cook said.

Cook defended the Pennsylvania Department of State, saying it is “handcuffed with the way the laws are written.”

County Manager Romilda Crocamo had announced she is forming an “Election Legislation Task Force” to seek state election code updates that address issues encountered in the election, including those surrounding mail ballot drop boxes, deadlines for voter registration and mail ballot applications and on-demand mail ballot voting.

Crocamo said this week the task force will be activated after the Nov. 5 general election cycle is complete.

Her initial list of requests includes state legislation determining whether there should be drop boxes and, if so, spelling out the number of boxes required to ensure equitable access for all voters and clear guidelines on the locations and security requirements, along with funding.

She also believes legislators should allow voters to receive either standard mail ballots or ones “on-demand” at the election bureau — not both — saying the current process leads to duplicate requests and causes confusion and administrative challenges.

Early voting also should be considered to allow voters to cast their ballots in person at designated locations for an extended period before Election Day, saying this would alleviate congestion and provide more flexibility for voters.

Increased funding and an updated statewide voter tracking system also are needed, she said.