Luzerne County voters may be using paper ballots at polls on May 16

Luzerne County voters may be selecting their candidates on paper ballots instead of electronic ballot marking devices at polling places in the May 16 primary election, officials said Monday.

Election Director Eryn Harvey presented the plan to the county’s five-citizen Election Board, saying paper ballots were successfully used during a Jan. 31 state senate special election impacting 18 municipalities. The election bureau received a significant level of positive feedback from both voters and poll workers, she said.

After marking their candidate choice, special election voters had to feed their paper ballot into a tabulator/scanner for the vote to be cast.

With the ballot marking devices, voters pick their candidates on a computer screen and then print out the resulting ballot, which they must review and feed into the tabulator/scanner.

While each of the 186 precincts must still have a ballot marking device available for those with disabilities in the primary, Harvey said the plan she is proposing would reduce the county’s expense for Dominion Voting Systems Inc. to bring a team of 10 or so representatives here for two weeks to program and test all of the approximately 700 ballot marking devices.

“I think we spend a lot of money programming these things for one day,” Harvey told the board.

Although the paper ballots would be an additional expense, there also would be savings on transporting the ballot marking devices to polling places, she said.

Essentially, the plan would free up the bureau to concentrate on other pressing matters before the election and increase the bureau’s workload after the election, when results must be reconciled before certification, Harvey said.

Several election board members expressed reservations, although four out of five ended up approving a motion supporting the bureau’s plan.

Board Chairwoman Denise Williams provided the lone vote of opposition, saying she believes the ballot marking devices were purchased with public funds and should be used. She also said the devices eliminate “a lot of extra work on the back end,” in part because voters type in write-in selections instead of writing names by hand that must be deciphered. Williams also said the bureau has not yet completed analysis documenting all costs of each option for comparison.

A council majority had approved the $3.6 million purchase of the Dominion system in December 2019 as part of a state mandate requiring a system that provides a paper trail.

Before providing his support for the paper ballot plan Monday, board member Danny Schramm said he believes the ballot marking devices should be used, noting they won’t require the county to set up more seating areas and privacy screens for voters to fill out their ballots. The Jan. 31 special election may not be a good benchmark because it was not countywide, had low turnout and involved only one race, he said.

The only problem with the ballot marking devices in the November 2022 general election was a shortage of paper, which the bureau has assured won’t be a problem again, Schramm added.

Schramm also asked how the county will keep track of the paper ballots.

Harvey said they would be pre-counted by the vendor before delivery to each precinct. Post-election reconciliation would count the number of ballots fed into tabulators/scanners and the blank ones returned to make sure the numbers match up, she said.

Schramm asked what happens if there’s a discrepancy at a polling place. Harvey said the judge of elections would be asked to produce an explanation.

Williams said one of the precincts in the special election was off by nine ballots at reconciliation, and the judge of elections indicated all unused and cast ballots had been returned. The possibility of an incorrect count by the vendor had been raised at that time, she said.

County Administrative Services Division Head Jennifer Pecora said after Monday’s meeting it is highly likely the county will proceed with the paper ballot plan.

Electronic poll books

It’s still unclear if voters will be using paper or electronic poll books to sign in at polling places in the primary election.

The election bureau had switched from electronic poll books to paper ones in the November 2022 general election, with staffers saying the electronic ones were reaching their end of life and had created problems for some poll workers wrestling with technical issues.

However, the election board unanimously voted to activate the electronic books for the Jan. 31 special election because fewer devices were needed.

Harvey told the board Monday she is arranging for poll book supplier Election Systems & Software to inspect the county’s entire poll book inventory as soon as possible to determine if a sufficient number of books can be activated for the primary.

The current books were purchased by the county for $325,000 from Election Systems & Software in 2018. The electronic books are intended to speed up voter processing and allow poll workers to instantly search and redirect voters who show up at the wrong polling place.

Recently, the county sought proposals from vendors interested in supplying new poll books. Harvey said she was not involved in that solicitation and told the board a new request-for-proposals must be issued to determine if any responders are willing to pay the county to buy back the old books.

Ballot drop boxes

If all requirements are met, the Wright Manor assisted living facility in Mountain Top will have a mail ballot drop box for the primary, a board majority decided Monday.

A replacement site was sought because the Wright Township Volunteer Fire Department had notified the county in December that its fire station won’t be hosting a drop box in future elections.

The board also had previously approved drop boxes at Misericordia University in Dallas and two county-owned properties — Penn Place in downtown Wilkes-Barre and the Broad Street Exchange in downtown Hazleton.

Board member Alyssa Fusaro was the only election board member to vote against the addition of a box at the Wright Manor. She has vehemently opposed drop boxes.

Welcoming director

At the start of Monday’s meeting, Williams said she wants to welcome Harvey as the new director.

“Personally, I wish you the best,” said Williams, who had initially declined comment when she learned of Harvey’s hiring last month.

Harvey had previously worked as deputy election director for approximately one year before resigning in February 2022 to run for state representative.

Fusaro said she believes this is a “good chapter” for the bureau based on her observations.

Harvey thanked board members for their support.

“I’m very happy to be back,” she said.