Luzerne County preparing for Tuesday’s primary election

A total of 170,096 Luzerne County voters are registered to cast ballots in Tuesday’s primary that will determine which Democratic and Republican candidates advance to the November general election.

The county’s voter registration breakdown: 88,122 Democrats and 81,974 Republicans, according to state statistics.

The remaining 25,565 county voters not registered in the two major parties must wait until the November general because Pennsylvania has closed primaries, and there are no primary contests or ballot questions open to all voters.

Mail voting

Primary election mail ballots have been sent to 21,030 county voters who requested them — 15,684 Democrats and 5,339 Republicans, the election bureau said.

Completed ballots must be physically in the county election bureau by 8 p.m. Tuesday, and postmarks don’t count.

Four drop box locations are available, but the county’s Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre is the only site available on Election Day.

The specifics:

• Penn Place, 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre, main lobby and second floor election bureau — Monday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Election Day, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

• Misericordia University, Passan Hall, 100 Lake St., Dallas — today (Sunday), 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Monday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Broad Street Exchange Building, 100 W. Broad St., Hazleton — Monday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• Wright Manor, main lobby, 460 South Main Road, Mountain Top — today (Sunday), 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Monday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Mail voters who did not return their ballots also can bring the ballot package that had been sent to them — the ballot and both envelopes — to their polling place so it can be voided, allowing them to cast a ballot at the polling place.

Voters who requested but never received a mail ballot can cast a paper provisional ballot at the polls.

Provisional ballots are marked by hand and reviewed last so the county can verify a mail ballot was not also received from that voter. The details are important for provisional ballots. They must be placed in a secrecy envelope, which is then inserted in an outer envelope. Three signatures — two from the voter and one from the judge of elections — are required on the outer envelope for the vote to count.

In-person voting

Polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Voters also can view a list of all polling places under the election bureau’s primary election link at luzernecounty.org.

This election will be different because voters will be hand-marking their selections on paper ballots instead of the electronic ballot marking devices, although a device must still be set up in each precinct for those with disabilities.

Voters will still be required to feed the hand-marked ballots into the county’s Dominion Voting Systems scanners to be cast, as they did with the ballot marking device printouts.

After signing in on the electronic poll books, voters will receive a paper Democratic or Republican ballot based on their registration. As an added check, the bureau urges voters to make sure they are receiving the correct party ballot and immediately alert poll workers if they have any issues.

Voters also will receive a pen and be directed to a privacy booth to make selections.

Any voters concerned about others seeing their ballot can request a folder for use when they carry the ballot to the scanner.

As with mail voting, here are some reminders for those casting paper ballots at the polls:

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

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

• To cast a write-in vote for a person whose name is not on the ballot, voters must both legibly write the name and blacken the oval beside that line on their ballot. Because some primary races are attracting write-in votes, the election bureau is concerned some voters will forget the second step of shading in the oval, even though the procedure is stated on the ballot.

• Republican voters in Black Creek Township and Conyngham borough also should check both sides of their ballot because the number of candidates required continuation of the ballot on the back side, the bureau cautioned.

Lists of some candidates and their municipality of residence will be posted at each polling place because that information is required and does not appear on the ballots. This applies to candidates in the races for county council, district attorney and magisterial district judge.

The county of residency also will be posted for school board candidates in districts encompassing more than one county. Four school districts fall in more than one county — Berwick Area, Hazleton Area, Lake-Lehman and Wyoming Area. According to the list compiled by the bureau, all school board candidates reside in Luzerne County with the exception of Berwick Area, which only has candidates from Columbia County on the ballot.

The election bureau said it has ordered and received enough ballots for every registered voter in each precinct, although a portion will be kept in secure storage at the bureau and be available for delivery on demand if turnout is higher than usual at any polling locations.

Scanning ballots

Due to the use of hand-marked ballots, voters should be aware of what will happen if an issue is detected when they scan in the ballot.

Election Operations Manager Emily Cook explained both potential ballot issues:

• If voters picked more than the allowable number of candidates in one or more races, a message will appear on the scanner screen informing them the ballot contains an overvote.

The message will provide an option to hit a button to review the race or races with overvotes.

Two buttons will light up on the screen providing the option to still cast the ballot or to return it.

For those choosing return, the ballot will be ejected from the scanner. The voter must then inform a poll worker they want it to be spoiled/voided so they can receive a new one and return to a privacy booth to start over.

• If the scanner flags ballots in which the ovals are not fully shaded or other “ambiguous marks,” the scanner won’t accept the ballot. The scanner screen will identify the reason for the rejection. Impacted voters must then return to a privacy booth to correct the problem so the ballot can be accepted.

Those with questions or concerns about anything they encounter in the polling place should alert the judge of elections before they cast their ballots so the judge can assess the situation and, if warranted, resolve it, officials say.

Election results

The process to start unsealing mail ballot envelopes and scanning the ballots, known as pre-canvassing, begins around 7 a.m. on Election Day inside a room at Penn Place.

By law, counties cannot start uploading mail ballot results — known as canvassing — until the polls close at 8 p.m., officials said.

Observation of pre-canvassing is limited to political party officials and candidates or their representatives, and all observers must have watcher certificates obtained through the election bureau.

As usual, results will be posted and updated at luzernecounty.org after the polls close.

The state’s electionreturns.pa.gov site also will provide updated unofficial results from all counties.

Voters may call 570-825-1715 or email elections@luzernecounty.org for assistance or to report any issues.

The county must complete its unofficial tally of ballots, including mail ones, by midnight on election night as a condition for its acceptance of a state election integrity grant.

First-time voters should bring proper identification materials. Approved forms of photo identification include a Pennsylvania driver’s license or PennDOT identification card, a U.S. passport, or ID issued by any Pennsylvania government agency, the U.S. government, the U.S. armed forces, an employer or educational institution, the state said. Non-photo identification must contain the voter’s name and address and can include confirmation issued by the county election bureau, non-photo ID issued by Pennsylvania or the U.S. government, a firearm permit, government check or current paycheck, bank statement or utility bill.