Luzerne County’s Election Board unanimously voted Monday afternoon to certify the May 16 primary election results.
The board had held off on certification at its 1 p.m. meeting at the county courthouse earlier in the day, saying it must perform more research on the reconciliation report comparing voter counts to the number of ballots processed.
“We still have some unfinished business,” board Chairwoman Denise Williams announced at the 1 p.m. meeting before the board recessed to return to the county’s Penn Place building in downtown Wilkes-Barre.
Board members decided more review was needed during its public review of the reconciliation report before the certification meeting.
At issue were the reconciliation figures in Wilkes-Barre Wards 15 and 3.
In the city’s Ward 15, the reconciliation report showed 225 voters signed in, and 173 ballots were scanned.
The board retrieved the bag containing those ballots and recounted them, to find the number of ballots was around that amount.
Ward 3’s reconciliation indicated 126 voters signed in, but only 84 ballots were scanned.
Shortly before 3 p.m., county Election Director Eryn Harvey pinpointed the cause of the discrepancy. Harvey said the judges of elections incorrectly included mail voters in their totals of those signed in at polling places. Once the mail voters were deducted from the count, the numbers match the ballots scanned, Harvey said.
When the board reconvened at the courthouse for the 4 p.m. certification vote, Board Vice Chairman James Mangan thanked several citizens for attending the lengthy adjudication process. Monday’s certification delay is an example of the board’s due diligence, which should reassure voters, he said.
“We leave no stone unturned,” Mangan said.
Wilkes-Barre resident Linda Joseph was among the citizens faithfully attending the adjudication to watch the board process flagged ballots and tally thousands of write-in votes. She thanked the five members for their volunteer service, saying the process she witnessed for the first time over eight or nine days opened her eyes to the complexity of the post-election review and the board’s responsibilities.
“I did see the most diligent, serious adjudication,” Joseph said. “I was truly impressed.”
The board members — three Democrats and two Republicans — worked in a bipartisan way to check and recheck information, Joseph said, noting they are not paid for this work.
Joseph said she hopes county council does not advance a proposed home rule charter amendment ballot question that would allow council to appoint all five election board members. The charter currently requires council to appoint two Democrats and two Republicans, and those four appointees then select a fifth member of any political affiliation or no affiliation to serve as chairperson for four years. Williams is currently in the chair seat.
If the proposed question is placed on the November general election ballot and approved by voters, council would also fill the fifth seat with someone of any affiliation every two years.
Joseph said all five current members have expertise and “know exactly what needs to be done.”
Following Monday’s certification vote, election board member Alyssa Fusaro said she was satisfied with the thoroughness of the board’s review process.
“I feel good about this election,” Fusaro said. “We actually got to reconcile the numbers for this election, which was not done in November and left a lot of questions for me.”
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.